THE REVIVAL OF ORTHODOXY IN GREATER ROMANIA. CASE STUDY: THE RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ORTHODOX BISHOPRICS OF ORADEA AND CLUJ (1920 – 1921)

Orthodox Bihor was subjected to the process of Catholicization by the Hungarian Kingdom (during the Middle Ages), followed by the Habsburg Empire at the beginning of the modern era, and then, by the Austrian-Hungarian Empire after the year 1867. This was the means for the denationalization of the Romanians. For a significant amount of time, Orthodox Arad was under the rule of Serbian Orthodox bishops who made every attempt for the Serbianization of the Romanians. However, the Magyarization and the Serbianization of Romanians in Crișana region failed to succeed. The initially clandestine secular priests, vicars, and Orthodox bishops who were eventually officially accepted by the authorities in Vienna managed to keep the Orthodox faith, as well as the Romanian language and nationality still very much alive. The Orthodox Church of Bihor and Arad alongside the church organisations in Maramureș, Banat, and historic Transylvania played a significant role in the accomplishment of the Union between Transylvania and the Kingdom of Romania on 1 December 1918. The Orthodox Bishoprics of Oradea (1920) and Cluj (1921) would be re-established by the Romanian bishops Roman Ciorogariu and Nicolae Ivan as another jewel to the crown of Romanian Orthodoxy, thus paving the way for the proclamation of an independent Patriarchate of Romania.