Alexandru Sterca-Șuluțiu, also called Alexandru Sterca-Șuluțiu de Cărpiniș (February 15, 1794 – September 7, 1867), was an ethnic Romanian

Eastern Catholic The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous ('' sui iuris'') particular churches of t ...

cleric in Imperial Austrian

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

, and the Metropolitan of the Transylvanian Greek Catholic Church. He was the brother of 1848 revolutionary commander

Ioan Sterca-Șuluțiu Ioan Sterca-Șuluțiu (1796–1858) was an ethnic Romanian bureaucrat in the administration of Imperial Austrian Transylvania, owner of gold mines at Abrud, and the brother of Greek-Catholic Metropolitan Alexandru Sterca-Șuluțiu. He was t ...

. During his service the Diocese of Alba Iulia and Făgăraş (centred at

Blaj Blaj (; archaically spelled as ''Blaș''; hu, Balázsfalva; german: Blasendorf; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Blußendref'') is a municipiu, city in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania. It has a population of 20,630 inhabita ...

) was removed from the jurisdiction of the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Archdiocese of Esztergom In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

(in

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

) and became an ecclesiastic province in its own right, with the Dioceses of Oradea Mare,

Gherla Gherla (; hu, Szamosújvár; german: Neuschloss) is a municipality in Cluj County, Romania (in the historical region of Transylvania). It is located from Cluj-Napoca on the river Someșul Mic, and has a population of 20,203. Three villages are a ...

and

Lugoj Lugoj (; hu, Lugos; german: Lugosch; sr, Лугош, Lugoš; bg, Лугож; tr, Logoş) is a list of cities and towns in Romania, city in Timiș County, Romania. The Timiș River divides the city into two halves, the so-called "Romanian Lugoj" ...

as suffragans (subordinate dioceses).

Origins and studies

Born in Abrud, Șuluțiu came from a noble Romanian family of Transylvania. The roots of the family seem to be very old, as the Italian spelling of this family name is Sollozzo. He studied at Abrud,

Alba Iulia Alba Iulia (; german: Karlsburg or ''Carlsburg'', formerly ''Weißenburg''; hu, Gyulafehérvár; la, Apulum) is a city that serves as the seat of Alba County in the west-central part of Romania. Located on the Mureș River in the historical ...

and Blaj, where he prepared for the priesthood in the diocesan seminary. On November 8, 1814, he married Ana Aron of Bistra, and on December 6 of the same year he was made a priest. His wife died on February 18, 1818, leaving him a widower.

Ecclesiastical career

In 1836 he became the archpriest of Şimleu. In the electoral synod on September 30, 1850, he ended up first of the candidates running to fill the episcopal seat of Făgăraș and Alba Iulia. On November 18, 1850, he was named to the post, while on July 22, 1851, he was consecrated bishop in Saint Nicholas Cathedral,

Oradea Oradea (, , ; german: Großwardein ; hu, Nagyvárad ) is a city in Romania, located in Crișana, a sub-region of Transylvania. The county seat, seat of Bihor County, Oradea is one of the most important economic, social and cultural centers in the ...

. On December 6, 1853,

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX ( it, Pio IX, ''Pio Nono''; born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878, the longest verified papal reign. He was notable for convoking the First Vatican ...

removed the diocese of Făgăraș from the metropolitan jurisdiction and primacy of the archbishop of

Esztergom Esztergom ( ; german: Gran; la, Solva or ; sk, Ostrihom, known by alternative names) is a city with county rights in northern Hungary, northwest of the capital Budapest. It lies in Komárom-Esztergom County, on the right bank of the river Danu ...

, and raised it to the dignity of archdiocese and metropolitanate. Through this act, Bishop Șuluțiu became both Archbishop and Metropolitan. On October 28, 1855, he was installed in his new post in a great ceremony held at Blaj in the presence of the Apostolic

Nuncio An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international or ...

from

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Cardinal

Michele Viale-Prelà Michele Viale-Prelà (29 September 1798 – 15 May 1860) was an aristocratic Catholic priest from Corsica, France, who served as a diplomat for the Holy See in Switzerland, Bavaria and Austria. He became a Cardinal and the Archbishop of Bologna. Wh ...

(later Roman Catholic

Archbishop of Bologna The Archdiocese of Bologna is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Northern Italy. The cathedra is in the cathedral church of San Pietro, Bologna. The current archbishop is Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, ...

Bibliography

*Nicolae Edroiu, "O lucrare istorică inedită a lui Alexandru Sterca-Șuluțiu" ("A Previously Unpublished Historical Work of Alexandru Sterca-Șuluțiu"), in ''Anuarul Institutului de Istorie și Arheologie din Cluj'', XXV, 1982, pp. 287–294 *Corina Teodor, "Un spirit polemic: Alexandru Sterca-Șuluțiu" ("A Polemical Spirit: Alexandru Sterca-Șuluțiu"), in ''Anuarul Institutului de Cercetări Socio-Umane "Gheorghe Șincai" al Academiei Române'', Târgu-Mureş, 1999 *Nicolae Edroiu, Aurel Răduțiu, Pompiliu Teodor (ed.), "Preocupările istorice ale lui Alexandru Sterca-Șuluțiu (1794-1867)" ("The Historic Concerns of Alexandru Sterca-Șuluțiu (1794-1867)"), in ''Stat, societate, națiune. Interpretări istorice'' ("State, Society, Nation. Historic Interpretations"),

Cluj-Napoca ; hu, kincses város) , official_name=Cluj-Napoca , native_name= , image_skyline= , subdivision_type1 = Counties of Romania, County , subdivision_name1 = Cluj County , subdivision_type2 = Subdivisions of Romania, Status , subdivision_name2 ...

, Editura Dacia, 1982.

External links

*
Nicolae Edroiu, ''The Historiographic Works of the First Metropolitan of Blaj, Alexandru Sterca-Şuluţiu''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sterca-Sulutiu, Alexandru 1794 births 1867 deaths Austrian nobility Primates of the Romanian Greek Catholic Church Romanian people in the Principality of Transylvania (1711–1867) People from Abrud Romanian Austro-Hungarians Romanian nobility 19th-century Eastern Catholic archbishops 19th-century Romanian people Eastern Catholic bishops in Romania