The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bucharest, Romania was established on 27 April 1883. There had been a Catholic presence in the city since at least the 18th century, but it was only in 1847 that Bishop Josephus Molajoni was able to establish his residence there. His successor, Angelus Parsi, restored the episcopal palace, which had been destroyed by fire in 1847, and in 1852 brought to Bucharest the English Ladies, and in 1861 the Brothers of the Christian Schools. In 1863 Bishop Parsi was succeeded by Josephus Pluym, from 1869 Patriarchal Vicar of Constantinople, who in turn was followed by Ignatius Paoli. After the establishment of the Kingdom of Romania in 1881, a movement was initiated by the government to release the Catholic subjects from dependence on a foreign bishop, and negotiations were begun with Rome. Two years later, Pope Leo XIII raised to an archdiocese the Apostolic Vicariate of Wallachia, with Bucharest as residence.
In addition to Bucharest, the archdiocese covers the rest of Wallachia (Oltenia, Muntenia and Dobrudja)—the counties of Mehedinţi, Gorj, Dolj, Vâlcea, Olt, Argeş, Teleorman, Dâmboviţa, Giurgiu, Prahova, Ilfov, Buzău, Ialomiţa, Călăraşi, Brăila, Tulcea and Constanţa, of which 0.9% are Roman Catholic, with the largest number of parishes in Bucharest. Its adherents are predominantly Romanian. It is directly subordinate to the Vatican. Its archbishop since 1990 has been Ioan Robu, previously bishop since 1984.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.
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