Ioan Lemeni

Ioan Lemeni
Primate of the Romanian Greek Catholic Church
Church Romanian Greek Catholic Church
Diocese Diocese of Făgăraş
Installed July 14, 1833
Term ended March 1850
Predecessor Ioan Bob
Successor Alexandru Sterca-Șuluțiu
Orders
Ordination Oct 1, 1805 (Priest)
Consecration Jun 6, 1833 (Bishop)
by Samuil Vulcan
Personal details
Born April 22, 1780
Dezmir
Died March 29, 1861 (aged 80)
Vienna

Ioan Lemeni (22 April, 1780 – 29 March, 1861) was Bishop of Făgăraş and Primate of the Romanian Greek Catholic Church from 1833 to his resignation in 1850.

Life

Ioan Lemeni was born on April 22, 1780 in Dezmér, Transylvania, Royal Hungary. He was ordained a priest on Oct 1, 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 Aug 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 Jun 6, 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 March 29, 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 1. Cluj-Napoca. pp. 64–66. ISBN 973-9288-11-1.
  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 7. Padua. p. 196.