Romanian Greek Catholics: Memorandum pt. 2

More from the 2002 Memorandum from Romanian Greek Catholics to the government of Romania:

II. Historic-religious Arguments

 

The unification of Transylvania with Romania has consigned a spiritual bind of all Romanians with the rest of Europe, with the cradle of the Latin and universal civilization. This unification took place in the 1700's through the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church United with Rome. We do not deem the fact that there are two separate beliefs, a Catholic and an Orthodox one, but a Christian one. The right to choose a place of actual manifestation of either of these is one of the essential liberties of each human being. 

Through the unification of the Romanian Church from Transylvania with Rome, the Romanians gained access to the Western schools of thought and culture, and the priests had received their education in the Latin language in Rome, and not in Tarigrad which maintained an education in the Slavonic language. Greek-Catholic Bishop Inochentie Micu, an emblematic personality for our entire nation, pronounced for the first time the name of our nation as "Romanian," and fought to his death for the rights of all Romanians in Transylvania, not only for the Greek-Catholic ones.

From a political perspective and for the first time in world history, due to the recognition given to the Romanians from the Pope and from Europe as a self-sufficient European nation within the Austrian Empire, the Romanian nation had become the fourth recognized nation, although Romanians were not considered to be a tolerated nation within Transylvania. This was an event of great importance in those times, somewhat comparable with the present entrance and acceptance of Romania into the European Union. 

The Romanian Greek-Catholic disciples were given the true revelation pertaining to the true Latin origin of our nation through their studies completed in Rome and through the thorough knowledge achieved of our Latin origins. These origins have been proved through many studies and specialized analytical works. This is how the Ardelean School was born, which generated patriotic pride, this being the light that provoked an awakening to the Romanian national conscience.

The Ardelean School was the first and true Romanian movement through which the Romanian people have been defined: origin - daco-roman, language - of Latin origin, alphabet - Latin, name - Romanian, tri-colored flag - the three Romanian provinces. The leaders of this School were Samuil Micu, Gheorghe Sincai, Petru Maior, whom were all Greek-Catholics. Due to this perspective, it is important to remark the fact that the official birth act of the modern Romanian European nation was written by Greek-Catholicism! 

Nobody up until these great teachers of the Ardelean School had ever pointed out clearly our true Latin origin. And nobody else has ever identified us as well as they did as a people. Exactly because of this the Romanian people should never forget or attempt to minimize the fundamental role that was really played by Greek-Catholicism in the history of our country. The Ardelean School was not only a cultural movement but a political one as well. It had an enormous impact on the development of our nation. Its importance was crucial in the formation and emancipation of the modern Romanian people, which is comparable to our ethno-genesis after the prevailing of the Romans over Dacia. 

In the beginning of the 19th century, Gheorghe Lazar and Gheorghe Asachi, being strongly influenced by the Ardelean School, had established the first public Romanian schools of systematic education in Muntenia, and respectively in Moldova, with professors that had been educated at the Ardelean School! It should be with great dignity to remark on the fact that during this period the spoken language in the few established schools was not yet Romanian. The Romanian edification only develops later in history, with the contribution of the professors trained in the spirit of the Ardelean School. It becomes evident, therefore, that Romanians from the separate regions of the country owe the creation of the Romanian education system to the first established Greek-Catholic schools! 

Greek-Catholicism has given Romania an impressive list of cultural and religious personalities: Inochentie Micu, Samuil Micu, Gheorghe Sincai, Petru Maior, Gh. Baritiu, Timotei Cipariu, Andrei Muresanu, Ioan Ratiu, I.G. Pop de Basesti, Vasile Lucaciu, George Cosbuc, Liviu Rebreanu, Ion Agarbiceanu, Iuliu Maniu, Iuliu Hossu, Cornel Coposu and many, many more.

It is also evident that the reinvigoration of the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church United with Rome will truly be a great cause for the Church of Christ. This Church has always been a bridge between Christianity of Occidental and Oriental traditions.

Romanian Greek Catholics: Memorandum pt. 2