Bishop Călin Ioan Bot (born 24 July 1970) is a Romanian Greek Catholic hierarch, who serves as an Eparchial Bishop of the Romanian Catholic Eparchy of Lugoj since 16 June 2023. Previously he was the Titular Bishop of

Abrittum Dobrich ( ; ; ) is the 9th most populated city in Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Dobrich Province and the capital of the region of Southern Dobrudzha. It is located in the northeastern part of the country, 30 km west of the Bulgaria ...

and an Auxiliary Bishop of Eparchy of Lugoj since 22 January 2020 until 16 June 2023.

Life

Bishop Bot was born in

Surduc Surduc (; ; ) is a commune in Sălaj County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of seven villages: Brâglez, Cristolțel, Solona, Surduc, Teștioara, Tihău and Turbuța. Etymology The name of the commune has its origin in the morphological ...

, and joined the Greek-Catholic Theological Institute St. John the Evangelist in

Cluj-Napoca Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...

(1991–1995). During this time he was ordained as a priest on 10 September 1995 for the Romanian Catholic Eparchy of Cluj-Gherla. From 1995 until 2000 he served as an educational director, and subsequently – rector of the Greek-Catholic Theological Institute St. John the Evangelist (2000–2002 and 2005–2017). And in the mid time, during 2002–2005, he studied 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, ...

, Italy: a one year in the formation course for the seminary formators at the

Pontifical Gregorian University Pontifical Gregorian University (; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana), is a private university, private pontifical university in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as a part of the Roman College, founded in 1551 by Ignatius of Loyo ...

and other two years at the same university in the Institute of Spirituality (master's degree). In 2017 he was appointed

protosyncellus A protosyncellus, protosynkellos or protosyngel () is the principal deputy of the bishop of an eparchy for the exercise of administrative authority in an Eastern Orthodox or Eastern Catholic church. The equivalent position in the Western Chris ...

of the Eparchy of Cluj-Gherla and in addition to the spiritual direction and didactic activities at the Inochentie Micu Seminary Lyceum in Cluj-Napoca, he was an eparchial adviser on education-formative issues of his native eparchy. On 22 January 2020, he was confirmed by the

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

as an Auxiliary Bishop of the Romanian Catholic Eparchy of Lugoj and

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

. On 21 June 2020, he was consecrated as bishop by Major Archbishop Cardinal

Lucian Mureșan Lucian Mureșan (born 23 May 1931) is a Romanian prelate of the Romanian Greek Catholic Church who has been the first Major Archbishop of the Romanian Greek Catholic Major Archeparchy of Făgăraș and Alba Iulia, Greek Catholic Archdiocese of ...

and other hierarchs of the

Romanian Greek Catholic Church The Romanian Greek Catholic Church or Romanian Church United with Rome is a '' sui iuris'' Eastern Catholic Church, in full union with the Catholic Church. It has the rank of a Major Archiepiscopal Church and it uses the Byzantine liturgical r ...

at the

Cathedral of the Holy Trinity Holy Trinity Cathedral, Cathedral of the Holy Trinity or Trinity Cathedral may refer to: Africa * Holy Trinity Cathedral (Addis Ababa), Ethiopia * Holy Trinity Cathedral (Accra), Ghana Americas Canada *Holy Trinity Cathedral (New Westminster), Br ...

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 ('' ...

. On 16 March 2023 Bishop Bot was appointed as an Archiepiscopal Administrator of the vacant Romanian Catholic Eparchy of Lugoj, after the death of Bishop Alexandru Mesian and on 16 June 2023 become the Eparchial bishop of the same Eparchy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bot, Calin Ioan 1970 births Living people People from Sălaj County Pontifical Gregorian University alumni Romanian Greek-Catholic bishops 21st-century Eastern Catholic bishops Eastern Catholic bishops in Romania