New Roman Catholic Archbishop of Alba Iulia installed with thousands of pilgrims in attendance

Monsignor Kovács Gergely was consecrated and installed as the new Roman Catholic Archbishop of Alba Iulia in a ceremony celebrated on Saturday at the St. Michael Cathedral of Alba Iulia, with dozens of ecclesiastical officials - cardinals, bishops, representatives of the other Churches in Transylvania - attending. Thousands of faithful, mostly from the Harghita and Covasna counties, but also from Hungary, braved the cold to witness the event on the esplanade of the cathedral, the best preserved medieval vestige of Central Europe, the beginnings of which can be traced back before the year 1000. Kovács Gergely, 52, was born in Targu Secuiesc and before his appointment to this position by a decree issued by Pope Francis on December 24, 2019, served as head of office at the Pontifical Council of Culture. "Let's walk together!' is the exhortation of Holy Father Pope Francis, but also of Bishop Áron Márton: 'We must learn to commit ourselves to one another and work together in all walks of life'. (...) Being geographically scattered, our archdiocese is characterized by diversity. We must move forward together: preserving our own cultural identity, but also respecting the differences, the others. Respect, appreciation and mutual support will help us in the common work meant to please God. Let's walk together!," said the new Roman-Catholic Archbishop of Alba Iulia in his address, according to the translation provided to the media by the organizers. Kovács Gergely's consecration ceremony was officiated by the President of the Pontifical Council for Culture, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, while co-consecrators were the Apostolic Nuncio to Romania, Miguel Maury Buendia, and the one who has been the spiritual leader of the archdiocese for the last three decades, Jakubinyi Gyorgy, now named Archbishop Emeritus. The foreign guests included bishops from Hungary, together with Cardinal Erdő Péter, primate of Hungary, as well as from Austria, Germany, Serbia, Slovakia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, while the Romanian clergy were represented by 15 Roman-Catholic and Greek-Catholic bishops, representatives of the Reformed Church, of the Hungarian Lutheran Church of Romania, the Unitarian Church of Transylvania, the Evangelical Church of Romania. The Romanian Orthodox Church was represented by the Archbishop of Alba Iulia, Irineu, who conveyed the message of Patriarch Daniel, referring to the good relations between the two Churches and wishing the new archbishop a "fruitful apostolate". Also attending were presidential advisor Sergiu Nistor, who conveyed the congratulatory message of President Klaus Iohannis, the Secretary of State for Religious Denominations Victor Opaschi, UDMR leader Kelemen Hunor, representatives of several Transylvanian county councils, academics, representatives of the university milieu. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban also sent the new archbishop a congratulatory message, wishing him "wisdom and blessed ministry for his new duties". The entire ceremony was aired live by Hungarian broadcaster Duna Televízió. Kovacs Gergely is the third Archbishop of the Alba Iulia and the 83rd bishop in the 1,011 years since the canonical establishment of this archdiocese. He is also the 16th Szekler bishop to minister here. On December 24, 2019, according to the ecclesiastical regulations in force - the Code of Canon Law - the Pontiff accepted the resignation of Monsignor Jakubinyi Gyorgy as Archbishop of the Roman-Catholic Archdiocese of Alba Iulia after 29 years in the job, and proceeded to appoint his successor. AGERPRES (RO - author: Marinela Brumar, editor: Karina Olteanu; EN - author/editor: Simona Klodnischi)

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