ANGHEL, ATANASIE. – Romanian Greek-Catholic bishop of Alba Iulia, b. at Ciugud, d. 19 Aug. 1713 in his see. Having studied in Calvinist schools, the Hungarian followers of Calvin expected from him, consecrated on 22 Jan. 1698 as Orthodox metropolitan for Transylvania, strong support for their religious aims. Instead, at the synod of 7 July 1698 he effected the union with the Roman Church, begun in 1697 by his predecessor Teofili, obtaining from Emperor Leopold I the guarantee, for the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church, of rights equal to those of the Latin Church. Indignant at the union, which freed so many Romanian priests from servitude like peasants, the Calvinist Hungarian nobles attempted through atrocious persecutions and acts of terror to prevent or destroy the accomplished union. Therefore, A. convened on 5 Sept. 1700 a general synod at Alba Iulia, commemorating the assembly of the Transylvanian Romans, in which, besides the bishop, 54 archpriests and 1,563 Romanian priests declared that they had “freely concluded, by divine impulse, the union with the Roman-Catholic Church and considered themselves members of the holy Roman-Catholic Church.”
Returning from Vienna, where he was confirmed as Greek-Catholic bishop for Transylvania, A. took possession of his diocese in the cathedral of Alba Iulia on 25 June 1701, in the presence of a great multitude of priests and faithful from all Transylvania. He presided over synods in 1701, 1702, 1703, 1707, etc., promoting the cause of the union, which, despite the tenacious opposition of Calvinists and Greeks (the patriarch of Constantinople excommunicated A. in 1702), succeeded in making further progress among the Transylvanian Romans, also thanks to the faith and zeal of the priests. A. is justly regarded as the true founder of the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church.