Petru Gherghel (born 28 June 1940) is 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 ...

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

of the

Catholic Church 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 ...

. He is the ninth Bishop of Iași, from 1990 to 2019. He was formerly served as apostolic administrator of the same diocese from 1978 to 1990, under the Communist regime. Gherghel was born in

Gherăești Gherăești is a commune in Neamț County, Western Moldavia, Romania. It is composed of three villages: Gherăești, Gherăeștii Noi and Tețcani. At the 2002 census, 100% of inhabitants were ethnic Romanians. 89% were Roman Catholic and 10.7% R ...

, Neamț County. A graduate of the

Roman Catholic Theological Institute of Iași The Sf. Iosif Roman Catholic Theological Institute is a private university, with a Roman Catholic character and liturgical tradition, in Iaşi, Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, ...

, he was ordained to the priesthood in Alba Iulia on 29 June 1965 by Bishop

Áron Márton Áron Márton (28 August 1896 – 29 September 1980) was an ethnic Hungarian Roman Catholic prelate who served as the Bishop of Alba Iulia from his appointment in late 1938 until his resignation in 1980. Márton held the title of Archbishop af ...

. He then served at the parish in Barticești until 1967, followed by a period in

Rădăuți Rădăuți (; german: Radautz; hu, Radóc; pl, Radowce; uk, Радівці, ''Radivtsi''; yi, ראַדעװיץ ''Radevits''; tr, Radoviçe) is a town in Suceava County, north-eastern Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Bukovi ...

. On 1 December 1970, he was named a professor at his alma mater, rising to director in March 1975. On 21 February 1978,

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...

named him

apostolic administrator An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

, with his installation taking place on 4 April. During the following twelve years, a number of churches were built and parishes opened in the diocese, as well as a new seminary building; nearly 150 priests were ordained, with some of them being sent abroad to study. On 14 March 1990,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

raised Gherghel to the rank of bishop, with his consecration taking place on May 1 at the seminary, officiated by Archbishop

Angelo Sodano Angelo Raffaele Sodano, GCC (23 November 1927 – 27 May 2022) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church and from 1991 on a cardinal. He was the Dean of the College of Cardinals from 2005 to 2019 and Cardinal Secretary of State from 1991 ...

, a representative of the Pope. On 6 July 2019,

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

accepted his resignation, and appointed as his successor.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gherghel, Petru 1940 births Living people People from Neamț County 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Romania 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Romania