Iuliu Hirțea (13 April 1914—28 June 1978) was a

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

n bishop of the Greek-Catholic Church. Born in Vintere village,

Bihor County Bihor County () is a county ( județ) in western Romania. With a total area of , Bihor is Romania's 6th largest county geographically and the main county in the historical region of Crișana. Its capital city is Oradea. Toponymy The origin of ...

, he attended high school in

Beiuș Beiuș (; hu, Belényes) is a city in Bihor County, Romania near the Apuseni Mountains. The river Crișul Negru flows through Beiuș, and the city administers a single village, Delani (''Gyalány''). Between the late 18th and very early 20th c ...

, entering the seminary in

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 ...

upon graduation in 1931. A year later, he went to the

Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples A congregation is a large gathering of people, often for the purpose of worship. Congregation may also refer to: * Church (congregation), a Christian organization meeting in a particular place for worship *Congregation (Roman Curia), an administr ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, receiving a doctorate in theology. He was ordained a priest in Rome in 1937, by Bishop

Valeriu Traian Frențiu Valeriu Traian Frențiu (25 April 1875 – 11 July 1952) was the Bishop of the Eparchy of Oradea Mare of the Romanian Greek Catholic Church from 1922 to his death in 1952. His beatification occurred on 2 June 2019.

. His return to Romania was marked by the handover to

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 ...

Northern Transylvania Northern Transylvania ( ro, Transilvania de Nord, hu, Észak-Erdély) was the region of the Kingdom of Romania that during World War II, as a consequence of the August 1940 territorial agreement known as the Second Vienna Award, became part of ...

in 1940. From that year until 1945, he was secretary to Frențiu at his headquarters in Beiuș. He then started teaching at the Oradea seminary, following the area's reincorporation into Romania at the end of World War II. In late 1948, the new

communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...

outlawed the Greek-Catholic Church; Hirțea had been arrested in the spring of that year.Episcopul greco-catolic Iuliu Hirțea – 30 de ani de la intrarea lui în Eternitate
at the Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic site; accessed May 15, 2012 He was held without trial and released fifteen months later. At the request of Frențiu, who had been arrested, he was secretly consecrated auxiliary bishop of the Oradea Mare Diocese by

Gerald Patrick O'Hara Gerald Patrick Aloysius O'Hara (May 4, 1895 – July 16, 1963) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia (1929-1935), as bishop of the Diocese of Savannah in Georg ...

in July 1949, although he accepted reluctantly, as the office interrupted his project of a critical edition of the Bible. He carried out his duties until being arrested in December 1952 and condemned by the Military Tribunal of Oradea to 12 years of forced labor for high treason. He was sent to prisons in

, Văcărești,

Jilava Jilava is a commune in Ilfov county, Muntenia, Romania, near Bucharest. It is composed of a single village, Jilava. The name derives from a Romanian word of Slavic origin ( Bulgarian жилав ''žilav'' (tough), which passed into Romanian as '' ...

Târgu Ocna Târgu Ocna (; hu, Aknavásár) is a town in Bacău County, Romania, situated on the left bank of the Trotuș River, an affluent of the Siret, and on a branch railway which crosses the Ghimeș Pass from Moldavia into Transylvania. Târgu Ocna is ...

Pitești Pitești () is a city in Romania, located on the river Argeș. The capital and largest city of Argeș County, it is an important commercial and industrial center, as well as the home of two universities. Pitești is situated in the historical re ...

Satu Mare Satu Mare (; hu, Szatmárnémeti ; german: Sathmar; yi, סאטמאר or ) is a city with a population of 102,400 (2011). It is the capital of Satu Mare County, Romania, as well as the centre of the Satu Mare metropolitan area. It lies in the ...

Dej Dej (; hu, Dés; german: Desch, Burglos; yi, דעעש ''Desh'') is a municipality in Transylvania, Romania, north of Cluj-Napoca, in Cluj County. It lies where the river Someșul Mic meets the river Someșul Mare. The city administers four vill ...

, and

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 ...

, being released in July 1964. He returned to Oradea, his health weakened by interrogations and torture and suffering from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

. He continued to perform his role until dying in 1978.Episcopul Iuliu Hirțea
at the Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic site; accessed May 15, 2012 He was buried in Oradea's Rulikovski Cemetery; in 2007, his remains were reinterred in the city's St. Nicholas Cathedral.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hirtea, Iuliu 1914 births 1978 deaths People from Bihor County Romanian Greek-Catholic bishops Romanian anti-communist clergy Eastern Catholic bishops in Romania Romanian prisoners and detainees People detained by the Securitate Inmates of Pitești prison Inmates of Gherla prison Inmates of Jilava Prison