Hundreds of mourners on Monday attended the funeral of the Primate of Romania’s Greek-Catholic Church, the beloved Cardinal Lucian Mureșan who was seen as a symbol of resistance and faith, and persecuted by the communists when his church was forced to go underground. He was 94.
Pope Benedict XVI created him a cardinal in 2012.
In a sign of his importance in Romania, Romania’s President Nicusor Dan, former Prosecutor General, Augustin Lazar and the Ambassador to the Holy See, George-Gabriel Bologan, who confirmed for Universul.net the number of people, were present at the funeral.
“Transylvania would not be what it is today without the community and the Greek Catholic Church.Romania itself would not be what it is today without the Greek Catholic Church and its community,” President Dan said at the funeral.
The Cardinal died in the city of Blaj, the seat of the Greek Catholic Church on Sept. 25.
The Vatican telegrammed its condolences (see full text below).
News of his death was carried on Vatican News which noted he was born 14 years before communism came to Romania in the northwest region of Transylvania, into a family of 12 children. After the communists banned the Greek-Catholic Church in 1948, he was forced to abandon his high school studies and train as a carpenter, continuing his education privately.
He was declared “undesirable” due to his religious denomination and sent to work on the construction site of Romania’s first hydroelectric plant.
In 1955, Bishop Márton Áron admitted five young Greek-Catholics to the Latin-rite seminary of Alba Iulia, including Mureşan was among them.
In his fourth year, he was expelled by the Department of Religious Affairs and placed under the surveillance of the Securitatea, the communist secret police. For ten years he was forced to work in road and bridge maintenance while secretly pursuing theological studies.
In 1964, after receiving a special pardon, Mureşan was secretly ordained a priest by Bishop Ioan Dragomir. He ministered in hiding focusing on the youth and helping them find vocations. After Bishop Dragomir’s death in 1986, he became the clandestine leader of the Eparchy of Maramureş and continued to illicitly sustain the faith of believers.
When Romania was freed during the 1989 revolution, Pope John Paul II appointed Lucian Mureşan Bishop of Maramureş. In 1994, he was appointed Metropolitan Archbishop of Făgăraş and Alba Iulia.
In 2005, Pope Benedict XVI elevated the Metropolitan Church of Făgăraş and Alba Iulia to the status of Major Archepiscopal See, appointing Mureşan as its first Major Archbishop. He guided his Church during a complicated period of rebuilding church structures, reclaiming churches, and restoring unity.
Cardinal Mureşan served the wider Catholic community in Romania, leading the Episcopal Conference at various times between 1998 and 2012. Aged 80, he was created cardinal by Benedict XVI and received the title of Sant’Atanasio, Vatican News reported.
In one of his last public interventions, Cardinal Mureşan sent a message for the commemoration of Blessed Cardinal Iuliu Hossu, the Greek-Catholic bishop who suffered imprisonment and persecution for the faith under the communists.
Remembering his personal encounter with Hossu in forced residence, Mureşan spoke of his “friendship with God and with all people, beyond religion or ethnicity,” and his strength to forgive his persecutors.
Hundreds of people gathered on Monday in front Blaj’s magnificent Greek Catholic Cathedral ahead of the funeral service.
Mourners of all ages attended the ceremony standing outside the cathedral. Some brought chairs and the service was broadcast on screens placed outside.
The ceremony began on Monday morning at 11:00 a.m., with the Liturgy, at which Emi announced his presence
His Excellency Claudio Cardinal Gugerotti, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Oriental Churches, His Excellency Giampero Gloder, Apostolic Nuncio, of the Synod of Bishops of the Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic, as well as Roman Catholic bishops from Romania, numerous notables and delegates from abroad, as well as civil and military authorities attended the funeral.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan was in Blaj, the seat of the Greek Catholic or Eastern Rite Catholic Church in a sign of respect for the church and the role it has played in Romanian history as well as for Cardinal Lucian Mureșan.
This is a translation of the telegram.
I WISH TO EXPRESS MY CLOSENESS TO THE PRIESTS AND FAITHFUL OF THE GREEK-CATHOLIC CHURCH, OF WHICH HIS BEATITUDE WAS FATHER AND GUIDE, AS WELL AS TO THE FAMILY MEMBERS AND TO ALL THOSE WHO MOURN HIS DISAPPEARANCE.
I GIVE THANKS TO GOD FOR THE EXEMPLARY TESTIMONY OF THIS FAITHFUL SON OF THE CHURCH, WHO DID NOT FALTER IN TIMES OF PERSECUTION. I REMEMBER WITH ADMIRATION THE DIFFICULTIES AND HUMILIATIONS BORNE WITH COURAGE IN THE YEARS OF THE TEST, WHEN HE CONTINUED TO SERVE CHRIST IN THE PASTORAL MINISTRY EVEN AT THE RISK OF HIS OWN FREEDOM. HIS PRIESTHOOD, CHARRED BY EVANGELIC PATIENCE AND DEDICATION, HAS REVEALED AN UNWAVERING LOVE FOR CHRIST AND THE CHURCH, ILLUMINATING GENERATIONS OF THE FAITHFUL.
I ELEVATE MY PRAYER FOR THE SOUL OF THIS GOOD AND VIGILANT SERVANT WHO, FAITHFUL TO HIS MOTTO, HAS BEEN ABLE TO OFFER LIFE EVEN IN SUFFERING, ABANDONING HIMSELF CONFIDENTLY TO HIS HEAVENLY FATHER. I TRUST THAT, ACCOMPANIED BY THE MARTYRS AND THE BLESSED OF THE ROMANIAN GREEK-CATHOLIC CHURCH, HE IS WELCOMED INTO THE JOY OF THE ETERNAL KINGDOM. TO THOSE WHO ATTEND THE ….RITE AND TO THOSE WHO EXPERIENCE THE PAIN FOR ITS DEPARTURE I SEND THE APOSTOLIC BLESSING.
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