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The STUDIA UNIVERSITATIS BABEŞ-BOLYAI issue article summary
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Abstract: The Reestablishment of the Bishopric of Vad, Feleac and Cluj (1919). After the Great Unification of December 1, 1918 and the consolidation of the Romanian State, a lot of injustices were set to rights, one of them being the reestablishment of the Bishopric of Vad, Feleac and Cluj in Cluj-Napoca, a bishopric that was conceived as the rightful successor of the older bishoprics of Vad and Feleac, as well as a historical and religious necessity. The new bishopric was to include 16 regions, with a number of 465 parishes and about 260,000 congregants. Only on June 22, 1921, the Romanian Parliament voted the law, made up of one article that stipulated: "The old bishopric of Vad, Feleac and Cluj is reestablished on the territory delineated by the National Ecclesiastic Congress of Transylvania, with residence seat in Cluj-Napoca". The law was sanctioned by the royal decree no. 3235, issued on July 18, 1921. All legal conditions being fulfilled, the election of a bishop was made possible, so that the Metropolitan Bishop of Transylvania and the Ecclesiastic Council summoned the Elective Synod in the Orthodox Church of Cluj-Napoca on September 28. According to the stipulations of the "Organic Statute", paragraphs 99-103, the Synod appointed archimandrite Nicolae Ivan bishop of Cluj.Nicolae Ivan’s appointment was sanctioned by a royal decree, issued on October 22, 1921. He was invested on November 21/December 4, 1921 and officially installed on December 6/19, 1921, an event attended by a lot of officials and people. Being aware of his great many responsibilities as bishop, Nicolae Ivan defined his standpoint in this way: "Our belief is that, at both spiritual and material level, light dispels darkness" and, therefore, "all evils of nowadays society must be seen through our love" so that they should be corrected not only through "good words", but also by evangelical devotion. His main concern was to develop the bishopric, to set up central and local bodies, to supervise the election of representatives in the council and in the "Adunarea Eparhială" (the legal council). The bishop deserves to be ranked among the outstanding Romanian men of culture because, after the Great Union of all Romanians, he erected in the heart of Transylvania a lot of edifices, mostly with limited financial resources. He was a bishop who knew how to "build" people first, to help them lead a Christian life. He lived for the people, fought for justice and taught people to believe in freedom, light and dignity that came from God. |
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