ANGHEL, ATANASIO. — Romanian Greek-Catholic Bishop of Alba Julia, born at Ciugud, died on 19 August 1713 in his see. Since he had studied in Calvinist schools, the Hungarian followers of Calvin expected great support from him for their religious aims when he was consecrated on 22 January 1698 as Orthodox metropolitan for Transylvania; but at the synod of 7 July 1698 he effected union with the Roman Church, begun in 1697 by his predecessor Teofili, obtaining from the Austrian Emperor Leopold I a guarantee that the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church would enjoy rights equal to those of the Latin Church. Indignant at the union, which freed so many Romanian priests who had previously been subject to servitude like the peasants, the Calvinist Hungarian nobles attempted, through atrocious persecutions and acts of terror, to prevent or destroy the union that had been achieved. For this reason A. convened a general synod at Alba Julia on 5 September 1700, a memorable gathering of the Transylvanian Romanians, at which, in addition to the bishop, 54 archpriests and 1563 Romanian priests declared that they had “freely embraced, through divine inspiration, union with the Roman Catholic Church and considered themselves members of the holy Roman Catholic Church.”
Having returned from Vienna, where he was confirmed as Greek-Catholic Bishop for Transylvania, A. took possession of his diocese on 25 June 1701 in the cathedral of Alba Julia, in the presence of a great multitude of priests and faithful from all Transylvania. He presided over synods in 1701, 1702, 1703, 1705, etc., promoting the cause of union, which, despite encountering the most tenacious opposition from the Calvinists and the Greeks (the Patriarch of Constantinople excommunicated A. in 1702), succeeded in gaining increasing ground among the Transylvanian Romanians, also through the faith and zeal of the priests. A. is rightly regarded as the true founder of the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church.