Just over a year ago, we reported on the beatification of Vladimir Ghika, a Romanian Greek-Catholic priest martyred in 1954. A church in which Mons. Ghika served in Bucharest has been elevated to the status of cathedral for the newly created Eparchy of St Basil the Great; we are grateful to reader Viviana Dimcev for her report on this event, and to her husband Alexis for the accompanying pictures.
 |
| Bishop Mihai Frățilă |
August 30, 2014 was a great feast for Greek Catholics in Romania. In Bucharest, Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, assisted at the enthronement of the first Greek Catholic Bishop of Bucharest, His Holiness Mihai Frățilă, who received the symbols of his office from the hand of Cardinal Lucian Mureșan, Major Archbishop of the Romanian Greek Catholic Church.
The newly created Greek Catholic Eparchy of Saint Basil the Great of Bucharest was approved by the Holy Father Pope Francis in May 2014. The Romanian Greek Catholic Church, with the Metropolitan See in Blaj, a small town in the Romanian province of Transylvania, has felt for some time the need for a new Eparchy with its See in Bucharest, the capital of Romania. The Greek Catholic church of Saint Basil the Great in Bucharest was thus elevated to the rank of Cathedral church. Its impressive history is intertwined with the history of the Romanian Greek Catholic Church.
The small church in red brick (with the dimensions of 16 meters length and 7 meters width) was built in 1909 under the supervision of Roman Catholic Bishop of Bucharest Raymund Netzhammer, who wanted to offer the Greek Catholic faithful in Bucharest a church of their own rite. Those faithful were mostly of Transylvanian origin, Romanian speakers who emigrated to Bucharest in search of a better living, and wished to maintain the use of the Byzantine rite liturgy in Romanian. At that point, Transylvania was still part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire; it would become part of Romania 8 years later, in 1918.
Bishop Netzhammer, a Benedictine, thought it appropriate to consecrate the small church to Saint Basil the Great, one of the Greek fathers whose liturgy is celebrated in the Byzantine rite. He chose a well-known Romanian architect who used elements of Romanian, Byzantine and Gothic architecture in imitation of various older Romanian churches. For the painting of the church, he invited the monks of St Martin Abbey in Beuron; Father Andreas Goser created the sketches, which were painted by Gottfried Schiller and Julius Ostermaier from Ravensburg, using the mineral colours technique of A.W. Keim. The two artists also designed the liturgical objects of the church.
The church quickly became the center of the Greek Catholic community in Bucharest. Bishop Netzhammer assisted very often at the services, and Blessed Vladimir Ghika was the spiritual director of the Greek Catholic students who came there to attend the Divine Liturgy.
The newly created Greek Catholic Eparchy of Saint Basil the Great of Bucharest was approved by the Holy Father Pope Francis in May 2014. The Romanian Greek Catholic Church, with the Metropolitan See in Blaj, a small town in the Romanian province of Transylvania, has felt for some time the need for a new Eparchy with its See in Bucharest, the capital of Romania. The Greek Catholic church of Saint Basil the Great in Bucharest was thus elevated to the rank of Cathedral church. Its impressive history is intertwined with the history of the Romanian Greek Catholic Church.
The small church in red brick (with the dimensions of 16 meters length and 7 meters width) was built in 1909 under the supervision of Roman Catholic Bishop of Bucharest Raymund Netzhammer, who wanted to offer the Greek Catholic faithful in Bucharest a church of their own rite. Those faithful were mostly of Transylvanian origin, Romanian speakers who emigrated to Bucharest in search of a better living, and wished to maintain the use of the Byzantine rite liturgy in Romanian. At that point, Transylvania was still part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire; it would become part of Romania 8 years later, in 1918.
Bishop Netzhammer, a Benedictine, thought it appropriate to consecrate the small church to Saint Basil the Great, one of the Greek fathers whose liturgy is celebrated in the Byzantine rite. He chose a well-known Romanian architect who used elements of Romanian, Byzantine and Gothic architecture in imitation of various older Romanian churches. For the painting of the church, he invited the monks of St Martin Abbey in Beuron; Father Andreas Goser created the sketches, which were painted by Gottfried Schiller and Julius Ostermaier from Ravensburg, using the mineral colours technique of A.W. Keim. The two artists also designed the liturgical objects of the church.
The church quickly became the center of the Greek Catholic community in Bucharest. Bishop Netzhammer assisted very often at the services, and Blessed Vladimir Ghika was the spiritual director of the Greek Catholic students who came there to attend the Divine Liturgy.
