Romanian Catholic Church raised in status

Catholic World News ^ | December 16, 2005

[NYer]

Vatican,

Dec. 16

(CWNews.com)

-

Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) has raised the stature of the Romanian Catholic Church, naming Archbishop Lucian Muresan of Fagaras and Alba Julia as the "Major Archbishop" of the sui juris Eastern Church.

The creation of an archiepiscopal see is a clear sign of papal support for the Romanian Catholic Church.

A major archbishop ranks just below a patriarch in the Catholic hierarchy. Elected by the synod of his Church, with the approval of the Pope, the major archbishop fulfills essentially the same role as a patriarch, as the head of a self-governing Eastern Church.

Major Archbishop Muresan has been the ranking prelate in the Romanian Catholic Church, and the president of the Romanian bishops' conference. The Eastern Catholic Church which he now leads includes four dioceses in Romania and one in the United States. (There are also five Roman Catholic dioceses in Romania.) The Romanian Church is one of the larger Eastern Catholic bodies, with over 700,000 faithful.

For Romanian Catholics, the recognition of a major archdiocese will bring an emormous boost in morale. Eastern-rite Catholics, who account for only 5 percent of the Romanian population, have clashed frequently with the hierarchy of the Romanian Orthodox Church, which forms the country's religious majority with nearly 85 percent of the population.

The Romanian Catholic Church suffered through brutal persecution during the Communist era, as the government sought to eliminate all evidence of an Eastern Church in communion with Rome. Priests and lay people were imprisoned, tortured, and executed; parish properties were confiscated, and in many cases turned over to the Romanian Orthodox Church. Since the fall of the Communist regime, the Romanian Catholic Church has sought the return of confiscated properties, and often voiced impatience with the failure of Orthodox officials to cooperate.

Disputes over church properties in Romania have been a source of tension in dialogue between the Vatican and the Orthodox world. A similar situation exists in Ukraine, where another Eastern Catholic Church has looked for the restitution of parish buildings that were seized during years of Communist persecution.

Prior to the elevation of Archbishop Muresan, which was announced on December 16, there were only three prelates in the Catholic world with the title of major archbishop: Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil of Ernakulam-Angamaly, who heads the Syro-Malabar Church in India; Archbishop Cyril Baselios Malancharuvil of Trivandrum, head of the Syro-Malankar Church, also in India; and Cardinal Lubomyr Husar of Kiev, the leader of the Ukrainian Catholic Church.

The Ukrainian Catholic Church, which is the world's largest Eastern Church in communion with Rome, has frequently sought recognition as a patriarchate. The Russian Orthodox Church has adamantly opposed that move, and the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople has warned the Vatican that recognition of a Ukrainian Catholic patriarchate would endanger the future of ecumenical relations.

Nevertheless Pope John Paul II (bio - news)-- who frequently spoke of his admiration for the heroic witness of Eastern-rite Catholics under Communist persecution-- indicated that he would favor the creation of a Ukrainian patriarchate at an appropriate time. Pope Benedict XVI is believed to hold a similar view.

[NYer]

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND of the Romanian Catholic Church.

Eparchy of St. George in Canton, OH.

Most Reverend John Michael Botean
Bishop of the Eparchy of St. George in Canton

[StAthanasiustheGreat]

Is this the bishop who declared that support for the War in Iraq was mortal sin?

[Aquinasfan]

bump

[Nihil Obstat]

thank God no.

[Nihil Obstat]

Wait! - I was talking about Archbishop Lucian Muresan, not the other one. (I think you might be right.)

[gbcdoj]

Yeah:
Bishop Botean: Refuse to Fight

"Therefore I, by the grace of God and the favor of the Apostolic See Bishop of the Eparchy of St. George in Canton, must declare to you, my people, for the sake of your salvation as well as my own, that any direct participation and support of this war against the people of Iraq is objectively grave evil, a matter of mortal sin. Beyond a reasonable doubt this war is morally incompatible with the Person and Way of Jesus Christ. With moral certainty I say to you it does not meet even the minimal standards of the Catholic just war theory.

Thus, any killing associated with it is unjustified and, in consequence, unequivocally murder. Direct participation in this war is the moral equivalent of direct participation in an abortion. For the Catholics of the Eparchy of St. George, I hereby authoritatively state that such direct participation is intrinsically and gravely evil and therefore absolutely forbidden."

[siunevada]

Fascinating statement. He doesn't list any actual facts to support his position. He listed all the elements that should be considered in making a decision, in general. But none of the facts, in particular.

If it had been, indeed, a 'war aginst the Iraqi people' his statement would have been more persuasive. There was never any evidence that it was going to be a war against the people.

[NYer]

From the Eparchy's web site, this may shed some light on his positions.

* * * * *

Present activities

Bishop of the Romanian Eparchy of St. George the Martyr in Canton; Episcopal co-sponsor, American section of the Society of St. John Chrysostom; member of Ad Hoc Committee on Nominations of Conference Offices and member of Committee on Vocations of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops; past secretary of Eastern Catholic Associates (organization of Eastern Catholic hierarchy in the United States)

Education

1973		Graduated Oakwood High School, Plain Local School District, Ohio Canton Repository Teenager of the Year Timken Company Scholarship winner
1974		St. Fidelis Seminary, Herman, PA
1977		A.B. in Philosophy summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC
1977-1981		St. Gregory Melkite Seminary, Newton, MA Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology (Boston Theological Institute)
1985-1989		Catholic Theological Union, Chicago, IL

Assignments/Employment

Eparchy of St. George in Canton Bishop		1996-present
Romanian Catholic Diocese Vicar General, then Apostolic Administrator		1993-1996
St. George Cathedral, Canton, OH Rector		1990-1993
St. Michael Church, Aurora, IL Pastor		1986-1990
Pax Christi USA Center on Conscience and War, Cambridge, MA Staff Member
Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), Washington, DC Administrative Assistant
FWIW - in the early centuries of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, the church was outspoken and directly involved in local and world politics. Even the pope ruled over the Papal States. He held great worldwide influence. This is still true in the Orthodox Church, and to a limited exent in the Eastern Catholic Churches, especially those denominations once part of Orthodoxy that have restored communion to the Magisterium.

[StAthanasiustheGreat]

This is not a man who should be "promoted." As a military member and a Roman Catholic I am very upset with his position and more importantly his statement on salvation, since he is very much allowed his opinion and position.

[x5452]

I'm actually pretty ubeat abou the Romanian Orthodox, they've managed to keep religious education in Romania's schools.

http://www.romania.org/romania/constitution2.html

My brother has some Romanian freinds though who are pretty die hard ethnic folks. They refuse to go to an OCA or ROCOR parish. Only one with Romanian on the door. :( (Even though our OCA parish had a carpathian priest at the time and has had SEVERAL Romanian guests clergy and visitors) Nice guys otherwise though.

[NYer]

This is not a man who should be "promoted."

He wasn't promoted. The article speaks about the worldwide Romanian Catholic Church. Bishop John Michael Botean heads up the one and only Romanian Catholic Eparchy in the US, and has for quite some time now. It is the actual Romanian Catholic Church that has been elevated, not the bishop.

[Petrosius]

This is the head of the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church who has been elevated to a Major-Archbishop:

Archbishop Lucian Muresan
Major Archbishop of Fagaras e Alba Iulia (Romanian)

[RKBA Democrat]

"As a military member and a Roman Catholic I am very upset with his position and more importantly his statement on salvation, since he is very much allowed his opinion and position."

The Bishop in question is Romanian Catholic, not Roman. He's a Bishop in one of the eastern Catholic churches.

His statements regading the Iraq war are of relevance primarily to those who worship within the Romanian Catholic church in the U.S. The only practical impact I can see would be on (what I assume to be) a very small number of Romanian Catholics in the Armed forces.

I personally disagree with the statements of the Bishop on the Iraq war. However, I prefer to see Bishops who are willing to take a strong stand on what they view as an issue of right and wrong, to the ineffectual hand-wringing that we see all too often.