Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Alba Iulia
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Alba Iulia (Hungarian: Gyulafehérvári Római Katolikus Érsekség) is a Latin Church Catholic archdiocese in Transylvania, Romania.
Archdiocese of Alba Iulia Archidioecesis Albae Iuliensis Arhiepiscopia de Alba Iulia | |
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Location | |
Country | ![]() |
Metropolitan | Immediately Subject to the Holy See |
Statistics | |
Area | 58,254 km2 (22,492 sq mi) |
Population - Total - Catholics (including non-members) | (as of 2015) 4,017,256 397,778 (9.9%) |
Parishes | 253 |
Information | |
Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
Rite | Roman Rite |
Established | 1009 (As Diocese of Transilvania, Erdély, Siebenbürgen) 22 March 1932 (As Diocese of Alba Iulia) 5 August 1991 (Archdiocese of Alba Iulia) |
Cathedral | St. Michael's Cathedral, Alba Iulia |
Current leadership | |
Pope | Francis |
Archbishop | Gergely Kovács |
Auxiliary Bishops | László Kerekes (elect) |
Bishops emeritus | György Jakubinyi József Tamás |
Map | |
![]() Administrative map of Roman-Catholic Church |
- There is also a Romanian Orthodox Archbishop of Alba Iulia and a Greek Catholic Archdiocese of Făgăraş and Alba Iulia.
History
It was established as a bishopric, the diocese of Transylvania also called Erdély (in Hungarian), or Karlsburg alias Siebenbürgen (in German), in 1009 by King Stephen I of Hungary and was renamed as the diocese of Alba Iulia on 22 March 1932.
It was raised to the rank of an archdiocese by Pope John Paul II on 5 August 1991. It is exempt, i.e. directly subordinate to the Vatican, while the other Romanian dioceses form the Ecclesiastical Province of Bucharest.
Bishops
Ordinaries
- János Statileo (1534-1542)
- Pál Bornemissza (1553-1556)
- György-Miklós Jakubinyi (1994-2019)
- Gergely Kovács (2019-)
Auxiliary Bishops
- György-Miklós Jakubinyi (1990-1994), appointed Archbishop here
- József Tamás (1996-2019)
- László Kerekes (2020-)
Description
The archdiocese covers Transylvania proper—the counties of Alba, Bistriţa-Năsăud, Braşov, Cluj, Covasna, Harghita, Hunedoara, Mureş, Sălaj and Sibiu.
The cathedral episcopal see is St. Michael's, in Alba Julia city. It also has a minor basilica in Şumuleu Ciuc.
Population
11% of the inhabitants are Roman Catholic, with concentrations in parts of Harghita and Covasna counties. Catholic adherents are predominantly ethnic Hungarians.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Alba Iulia. |
- (in Hungarian) Official site
- GigaCatholic, listing the episcopal incumbents