Ioan Lemeni

Ioan Lemeni (Hungarian: Lemény János; 22 April 1780 – 29 March 1861) was an ethnic Romanian prelate in the Kingdom of Hungary, who served as Bishop of Făgăraş and Primate of the Romanian Greek Catholic Church from 1833 to his resignation in 1850.

Ioan Lemeni
Primate of the Romanian Greek Catholic Church
ChurchRomanian Greek Catholic Church
DioceseDiocese of Făgăraş
Installed14 July 1833
Term endedMarch 1850
PredecessorIoan Bob
SuccessorAlexandru Sterca-Șuluțiu
Orders
Ordination1 October 1805 (Priest)
Consecration6 June 1833 (Bishop)
by Samuil Vulcan
Personal details
Born22 April 1780
Died29 March 1861(1861-03-29) (aged 80)
Vienna

Life

Ioan Lemeni was born on 22 April 1780 in Dezmér, Transylvania, Royal Hungary. He was ordained a priest on 1 October 1805. After two years of didactic career at Blaj, as Professor of Philosophy and Church History, in 1807 he was appointed parish and protopop of Cluj. He was archpriest of Cluj and, after 1829, secretary of the bishop of Făgăraş-Alba Iulia Ioan Bob to who he succeeded on 23 August 1832.

His appointment to the Diocese of Făgăraş, i.e. Primate of the Church, was confirmed by Pope Gregory XVI on 16 Apr 1833, so becoming the Primate of the Romanian Greek Catholic Church. Because he was not yet a bishop, he was consecrated a Bishop on 6 June 1833 by Samuil Vulcan, bishop of the Diocese of Oradea Mare.[1]

The press of that period attests that he was able to preach even four times a day. Usually, his sermons were elaborated in Hungarian, Ioan Lemeni being seriously criticized by a part of Romanian historians who ignored the specific historical context from that time. In 1845 after a long and bitter dispute, Ioan Lemeni dismissed Simion Bărnuțiu from Blaj.

Together with the Orthodox Bishop Andrei Şaguna he had a role in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 supporting the union of Transylvania with Hungary and so opposing the Austrian government. For this reason, as required by the Austrian government, he had to resign in March 1850. [2][3]

After his resignation, he went to Vienna, where he died on 29 March 1861.[4]

Notes

  1. "Bishop Ioan Lemeni". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  2. Popan, Flaviu (1998). Biserica Română Unită două sute cincizeci de ani de istorie. Vol. 1. Cluj-Napoca. pp. 64–66. ISBN 973-9288-11-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. "Episcopul Ioan Lemeni". BRU. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
  4. Ritzler, Remigius (1968). "Fogariensis". Hierarchia catholica Medii aevi sive summorum pontificum, S.R.E. cardinalium, ecclesiarum antistitum series. Vol. 7. Padua. p. 196.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.