Meletie Covaci (1707 – 11 April 1775) was an ethnic Romanian

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

bishop in the

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...

Biography

Born in Naousa, Macedonia, of a family of Aromanian origin, Covaci fled to the north of the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

and was ordained priest on 29 June 1734 by Isaija Antonović, Serbian Orthodox bishop of Arad, and in 1736 converted to the Greek-Catholic Church in a religious ceremony 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 ...

, first as a wig of

Diosig Diosig ( hu, Bihardiószeg) is a commune in Bihor County, Crișana, Romania with a population of 6,816 people. It is composed of two villages, Diosig and Ianca (''Jankafalva''). The commune is located in the northwestern part of the county, on th ...

and then as a fortress of castle. Covaci became a Catholic priest and then a

protopope A protopope, or protopresbyter, is a priest of higher rank in the Eastern Orthodox and the Byzantine Catholic Churches, generally corresponding to Western Christianity's archpriest or the Latin Church's dean. History The rights and duties of the ...

in Diosig and after in Oradea, where he was proposed by the priests to the episcopate. On 16 September 1748

Pope Benedict XIV Pope Benedict XIV ( la, Benedictus XIV; it, Benedetto XIV; 31 March 1675 – 3 May 1758), born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 17 August 1740 to his death in May 1758.Antipope ...

named him auxiliary bishop of the

Latin Rite Latin liturgical rites, or Western liturgical rites, are Catholic rites of public worship employed by the Latin Church, the largest particular church ''sui iuris'' of the Catholic Church, that originated in Europe where the Latin language once ...

Oradea Diocese, in charge of its Romanian Greek-Catholic parishes and was consecrated titular bishop of

Tegea Tegea (; el, Τεγέα) was a settlement in ancient Arcadia, and it is also a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the Tripoli municipality, of which it is a municipal unit w ...

in the

Byzantine Rite The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, identifies the wide range of cultural, liturgical, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christianity, Eastern Christian Church of Constantinople. Th ...

by Manuil Olshavskyi, Vicar Apostolic of Mukacheve. This arrangement did not satisfy the diocese's Romanians, who wanted an independent diocese, a separate cathedral, Romanian schools, their own seminary and monastery, and better pay for their priests and archpriests. Covaci pressed these demands, and in 1756 he asked

Empress An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

Maria Theresa Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (german: Maria Theresia; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position ''suo jure'' (in her own right). ...

, through the Lieutenant Council, to establish "popular schools" in Oradea, Beiuş and Vaşcău. The Empress responded positively to this request as it can be seen in the Sematics of the Latin Diocese of Oradea in 1765, p. 164. However, Covaci only obtained better funding for clergy in the 95 parishes (divided into eight archpriests' districts) extant in 1765. He died on 11 April 1775 in

Notes

External links

* http://www.bru.ro/oradea/lista-episcopilor/ps-meletie-covaci/ 1707 births 1775 deaths Aromanian people Converts to Eastern Catholicism from Eastern Orthodoxy Romanian Greek-Catholic bishops Former Romanian Orthodox Christians 18th-century Roman Catholic titular bishops 18th-century Eastern Catholic bishops {{Romania-reli-bio-stub