Alexandru Todea (5 June 1912, Teleac,

Mureș County Mureș County (, , ) is a county (''județ'') of Romania, in the Historical regions of Romania, historical region of Transylvania, with the administrative centre in Târgu Mureș. The county was established in 1968, after the administrative reor ...

–22 May 2002,

Târgu Mureș Târgu Mureș (, ; ; German language, German: ''Neumarkt am Mieresch'') is the seat of Mureș County in the historical region of Transylvania, Romania. It is the list of cities and towns in Romania, 16th-largest city in Romania, with 116,033 ...

) was a

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

Greek-Catholic Greek Catholic Church or Byzantine-Catholic Church may refer to: * The Catholic Church in Greece * The Eastern Catholic Churches that use the Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite: ** The Albanian Greek Catholic Church ** The Belarusian Gr ...

bishop of the Alba Iulia Diocese and later

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

. He was also a victim of the

communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...

, suffering at

Jilava Jilava is a commune in Ilfov County, Muntenia, Romania, near Bucharest. It is composed of a single village, Jilava. The name derives from a Romanian word of Slavic origin ( Bulgarian жилав ''žilav'' (tough), which passed into Romanian as ...

, Sighet, and

Pitești Pitești () is a city in Romania, located on the river Argeș (river), Argeș. The capital and largest city of Argeș County, it is an important commercial and industrial center, as well as the home of two universities. Pitești is situated in th ...

prisons. Born into a peasant family, Todea was the 13th of 16 children. After attending primary school in his native village, and high school in

Reghin Reghin (; , or ; ; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Reen'') is a city in Mureș County, Transylvania, central Romania, on the Mureș River. As of 2021, it had a population of 29,742, making it the second biggest city of the Mureș county, just behind th ...

and

Blaj Blaj (; archaically spelled as ''Blaș''; ; ; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Blußendref'') is a city in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania. It has a population of 17,816 inhabitants as of 2021. The city administers eight villages: Deleni-Obârșie ('' ...

Metropolitan bishop In Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan (alternative obsolete form: metropolite), is held by the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a Metropolis (reli ...

Vasile Suciu send him to pursue his

theological Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of an ...

studies in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. He received his doctorate from the

Pontificio Collegio Urbano de Propaganda Fide The Pontificio Collegio Urbano de Propaganda Fide ( English: Pontifical Urban College for the Propagation of the Faith), also known as the Collegium Urbanum or Urban College, was a Catholic seminary established in 1627 for the purpose of training ...

and returned to Romania in 1940. He was created cardinal on 28 June 1991 and given the

titular church In the Catholic Church, a titular church () is a Churches in Rome, church in Rome that is assigned to a member of the Holy orders in the Catholic Church, clergy who is created a Cardinal (Catholic Church), cardinal. These are Catholic churches in ...

of Sant'Atanasio a Via Tiburtina. Todea is buried at the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in

References

* Valentin Borda and Mircea Borda, ''Alexandru Todea: protopop, episcop, mitropolit, cardinal în Biserica Română Unită cu Roma, Greco-Catolică'', Târgu-Mureș: Casa de editură Petru Maior, 1999. * Silvestru Augustin Prunduș and Clemente Plăianu, ''Cardinalul Dr. Alexandru Todea: la 80 de ani (1912-1992)'', Ordinul Sfînful Vasile cel Mare, Provincia "Sf. Apostoli Petru si Pavel", 1992. * Silvestru Augustin Prunduș and Clemente Plăianu, ''Catolicism și Ortodoxie Românească – scurt istoric al Bisericii Române Unite'', Cluj-Napoca: Casa de Editură Viața Creștină, 1994. 1912 births 2002 deaths People from Mureș County Romanian cardinals Grand Crosses of the Order of the Star of Romania Primates of the Romanian Greek Catholic Church Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II Pontifical Urban University alumni Honorary members of the Romanian Academy Romanian anti-communist clergy Romanian prisoners and detainees People detained by the Securitate Inmates of Sighet prison Inmates of Râmnicu Sărat prison Inmates of Pitești prison 20th-century Eastern Catholic archbishops 20th-century Romanian people 21st-century Eastern Catholic archbishops 20th-century cardinals Eastern Catholic bishops in Romania Inmates of Jilava Prison {{RomanianGreekCatholic-bishop-stub