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Interpersonal Relations and Behavioural Attitudes among the Banatian Greek-Catholic Elite (1857–1918) Mihaela Bedecean PhD Researcher The idea of a Greek-Catholic Metropolitan See had circulated among the higher clergy ever since the eighteenth century, return- ing in full force in the mid-nineteenth century, in the context of the 1848 Revolution.1 The ministerial conference held in Vienna on 18 November 1850 regarded the decision to re-establish the Romanian Greek-Catholic Metropolitanate as a solution that would prove favourable both to the church and the state. The imperial decree of 12 December 1850, announcing the reactivation of the Greek-Catholic Metropolitan See of Alba Iulia and the establishment of the episcopal sees of Gherla and Lugoj,2 was submitted to the Vatican so that the pontifical authorities could draft the project for the organization of the new province.3 The founding papal bull “Apostolicum Ministerium,” 1 On the establishment of the Romanian Greek-Catholic Metropolitanate, see O. Bârlea, “Metropolia Bisericii Române Unite proclamată în 1855 la Blaj,” in Perspective, 1987, X, no. 37–38, pp. 215–216; George Bariţiu, Părţi alese din istoria Transilvaniei pe 200 de ani în urmă, vol. II, second edition, ed. Ştefan Pascu, Florin Salvan, Braşov, 1994, p. 670; Nicolae Bocşan, Naţiune şi confesiune în Transilvania în secolul al XIX-lea: cazul mitropoliei române, în Etnie şi confesiune în Transilvania (sec. XIII–XIX), Oradea: Edit. Cele trei Crişuri, 1994, pp. 147–148; Ioan Mircea, “Demersurile prelaţilor români greco-catolici pentru statutul mitropolitan,” in Anuarul Institutului de Istorie Cluj- Napoca, 1996, XXXV, pp. 184–208; Mihaela Bedecean, Presa și bisericile româneşti din Transilvania (1865–1873), Cluj-Napoca: Presa Universitară Clujeană, 2010, pp. 49–55. 2 The Greek-Catholic parish of Lugoj was founded in 1836. 3 Nicolae Bocşan, Ana Victoria Sima, “Înfiinţarea şi organizarea Mitropoliei greco-catolice româneşti,” in Biserica Română Unită cu Roma, greco-catolică: istorie şi spiritualitate. 150 de ani de la înfiinţarea Mitropoliei Române Unite cu Roma, greco-catolică la Blaj, ed. Cristian Barta, Z. Pintea, Blaj: Edit. Buna Vestire, 2003, pp. 361–375. [135] Mihaela Bedecean Mihaela Bedecean issued on 26 November 1853,4 sanctioned the new status of Romanian Greek-Catholicism and demanded the enforcement, in the territory, of the organization directives enacted in Rome and Blaj. The new ecclesiastical creation included also a diocese in the Banat, whose residence was fixed in Lugoj. The first Bishop of Lugoj, Alexandru Dobra,5 was appointed under the imperial decree of 17 March 1854. Rome’s confirmation of Dobra in the episcopal see was validated by the papal bull “Apostolatus Officium,” issued on 17 November 1854, and the bishop’s installation occurred on 21 September 1856. At the time of its establishment, the Diocese of Lugoj included 113 parishes with nearly 52,000 parishioners,6 comprising communities that had been removed from the Diocese of Oradea and the archdiocese, their number growing over the coming years.7 From a territorial-adminis- trative standpoint, the authority of the diocese encompassed six coun- ties: Arad, Torontal, Timiș, Caraș, Hunedoara and Lower Alba, with a greater number of parishioners in the area of Hunedoara.8 Given the context of new beginnings, what was required was an internal reorganization of all the component structures, consistent with the realities of the recently formed diocese. The new circum- stances were marked by difficulties and obstacles in the way of solving problems pertaining to the infrastructure of the young diocesan body, its patrimony, the purchase of suitable premises for its needs, its mea- gre endowment, as well as the lack of qualified priests and teachers. During the first decades after its establishment, the Greek-Catholic Diocese of Lugoj encountered major material difficulties, including the lack of estates and land, or the need to find a location for the diocesan offices; this problem was to be solved only during the time of Bishop Ioan Olteanu, who, after repeated requests, received the 4 Alexandru Grama, Istoria Basericei Românesci unite cu Roma de la începutul creştinismului până în zilele noastre, Blaj: Edit. Seminarului Arhidiecezan, 1884, pp. 556–557; Nicolae Bocșan, Camelia Vulea, La începuturile episcopiei Lugojului. Studii şi documente, Cluj- Napoca: Presa Universitară Clujeană, 2003, pp. 156–163. 5 Alexandru Dobra (1794–1870), born in the village Şopteriu, Cluj County (the present-day county of Bistriţa-Năsăud). He carried out theological studies in Pest and Vienna, and was Bishop of Lugoj in 1854–1870. 6 Dieceza Lugoşului. Şematism istoric publicat sub auspiciile P.S.S.D.D. Dr. Demetriu Radu episcop gr.-cat. de Lugoş pentru Jubileul dela Sânta Unire de 200 de ani dela înfiinţarea aceleiaşi dieceze de 50 ani, Lugoj, 1903, p. 93. /Hereinafter Şematism Lugoj, 1903/. 7 N. Bocșan, C. Vulea, op. cit., p. 26. 8 Luminiţa Wallner-Bărbulescu, Zorile modernităţii. Episcopia greco-catolică de Lugoj în perioada ierarhului Victor Mihályi de Apşa, Cluj-Napoca: Presa Universitară Clujeană, 2007, p. 49. [136] Interpersonal Relations and Behavioural Attitudes among the Banatian Greek-Catholic Elite sum of 35,000 fl. from the government authorities, with which he pur- chased the building where the episcopal residence was established. Another obstacle that had to be removed was the lack of unifor- mity in the diocese, including as regards its economic development. The Transylvanian part of the diocese was poorer than its western, Banatian counterpart, and this led to the precarious material endow- ment of the archpresbyteriates of Hunedoara, reflected in the diffi- cult financial situation of the parishes and the schools there. A draw- back for the eastern part of the diocese consisted in the absence of the patronage institution, which operated successfully in the Banatian area, with beneficial consequences for the material welfare of the par- ishes.9 In an attempt to improve the financial situation of the under- privileged parishes, the diocese repeatedly requested assistance from the government authorities, under the provisions of the Concordat between the Austrian Empire and the Holy See. In parallel, recourse was made to the metropolitan funds for supplementing the income of the priests. These efforts also included the bishop’s proposal that part of the celibate priests’ estate should remain with the diocese, so as to increase the diocesan funds. Despite these joint efforts, insufficient material resources remained a constant concern, transmitted to the subsequent bishops. To cope with the lack of clerical staff in Greek-Catholic communi- ties of the diocese, the bishop ordained, after 1857, several priests, who were chosen from the ranks of the community, but also in keeping with the idea of maintaining the priestly tradition within the family. As such, the sons of several priests were steered toward Blaj and the Latin seminaries, after graduation, returning to their native villages. The problem was perpetuated over the following years, so Bishop Olteanu opened a 2-year course of theology in Lugoj, which ran from 1873 until 1876, solving the problem of the lack of qualified priests. Bishop Alexandru Dobra began the difficult mission of internal organization, which was to integrate the new diocesan structures into a unitary whole. The establishment of the chapter was part of these efforts. In the two newly created Dioceses of Lugoj and Gherla, the institution of the chapter was born at the same time as the establish- ment of episcopal see. As such, one of Dobra’s main concerns after occupying the Banatian see was the founding of the capitular body. The chapter of the cathedral church in Lugoj was founded, having six 9 Gh. Ciuhandu, Patronatul ecleziastic ungar în raport cu drepturile statului român, Arad: Tiparul Tipografiei Diecezane, 1928, 211 p.; L. Wallner-Bărbulescu, op. cit., p. 86. [137] Mihaela Bedecean canonical stalls. For a long time, the Chapter of Lugoj did not have its own organizational statutes, as the canons’ duties were not regulated under written enactments, with clear and rigorous provisions,10 but functioned under unwritten rules, adapted to the circumstances. The canons’ responsibilities were related mainly to the assistance they had to provide the bishop with in managing the diocese, as they served as referents in the ecclesiastical, administrative and educational matter of the episcopal bodies, gave communion to the bishop with the holy sacraments at the hour of his death, oversaw his solemn funeral and elected the vicar capitular during the episcopal vacancy (sedis vacan- tis). To these essential tasks were added the daily celebration of divine service in the cathedral church, the spreading of the teachings of the Greek-Catholic Church across the diocese, the delivery of sermons, theological and moral teachings, visits to the ecclesiastical commu- nities, regular meetings in capitular sessions and the administration of the diocesan funds and foundations, an important responsibility given the importance of these resources for the proper functioning of the diocese. At the installation ceremony of the first Banatian chapter on 12 April 1857, Bishop Dobra took the opportunity to describe, in his speech, the portrait of a model canon, with an impeccable moral conduct, asking the capitular members to set an example worth fol- lowing, by fulfilling their mission and demonstrating their outstand- ing human qualities.11 The bishop