View source for Grigore Maior

{{Infobox Christian leader
| name = Grigore Maior
| image= Grigore Major.jpg
| bishop_of = [[List of Major Archbishops of Făgăraş and Alba Iulia|Primate of the Romanian Greek Catholic Church]]
| church = [[Romanian Greek Catholic Church]]
| diocese = [[Greek Catholic Archdiocese of Făgăraş and Alba Iulia|Diocese of Făgăraş]]
| appointed = 8 March 1773
| ended = 13 March 1782
| predecessor = [[Atanasie Rednic]]
| successor = [[Ioan Bob]]
| ordination = 25 Dec 1745 ([[Priesthood (Catholic Church)|Priest]])
| consecration = 23 April 1773 ([[Bishop (Catholic Church)|Bishop]])
| consecrated_by=[[Vasilije Božičković]]
| birth_date = 1715
| birth_place = [[Sărăuad]], [[Szatmár County]]
| death_date = {{BirthDeathAge||1715|||1785|2|7|yes}}
| death_place = [[Alba Iulia]]
| birth_name=Gavrila Maior
}}
'''Grigore Gavrila Maior''', [[Order of Saint Basil the Great|O.S.B.M.]], (1715 &ndash; 7 February 1785) was [[List of Major Archbishops of Făgăraş and Alba Iulia|Bishop of Făgăraş]] and [[Primate (bishop)|Primate]] of the [[Romanian Greek Catholic Church]] from 1773 to his resignation in 1782.
==Life==
Gavrilă Maior was born in 1715, in [[Sărăuad]], [[Szatmár County]] ([[Transylvania]]). He studied at [[Cluj]] and later from 1740 in the [[College of the Propaganda]], [[Rome]], where he on 28 January 1747 got a doctorate in theology and philosophy.<ref name="HC6">{{cite encyclopedia |author=Ritzler, Remigius |title=Fogariensis |encyclopedia=Hierarchia catholica Medii aevi sive summorum pontificum, S.R.E. cardinalium, ecclesiarum antistitum series| volume=6| pages=218| location=Padua| year=1958}}</ref> He entered the [[Order of Saint Basil the Great|Basilian]] monastery of the Holy Trinity in [[Blaj]] taking the name of Grigore, and on 25 December 1745 he was ordained a [[Priesthood (Catholic Church)|priest]].<ref name="CH">{{Catholic-hierarchy|bishop|bmajor|Bishop Grigore Maior, O.S.B.M.|23 January 2015}}</ref> He taught languages (Latin and Hungarian) in Blaj.<ref name="BRU1">{{cite book |first=Carol |last=Capros |chapter=Episcopul Grigore Maior |title=Biserica Română Unită două sute cincizeci de ani de istorie| volume=1| location=Cluj-Napoca | year=1998 |ISBN=973-9288-11-1 |pages=48–50}}</ref>
On 30 June 1764, following the death of the Primate of the Romanian Greek Catholic Church, the [[Greek Catholic Archdiocese of Făgăraş and Alba Iulia|bishop of Făgăraş]] [[Petru Pavel Aron]], the electoral synod convened and Maior was chosen. Nevertheless the [[Habsburg monarchy|Habsburg monarch]], [[Empress Maria Theresa]], designated [[Atanasie Rednic]] as new bishop. Maior, unhappy he was not appointed bishop, murmured against the appointment of Rednic. For this reason [[András Hadik]], the commander of the Habsburg army in Transylvania, imprisoned Maior in [[Sibiu]] for three and a half months, and later confined him in the monastery of [[Mukachevo]]. In 1771 Maior pleaded with [[Emperor Joseph II]], who was visiting the monastery, and succeeded in being released; he began work as [[Censorship|censor]] of books in [[Vienna]].<ref name="BRU">{{cite web |url=http://www.bru.ro/blaj/lista-episcopilor/ps-grigore-maior/ |title=Episcopul Grigore Maior | work=BRU |accessdate=11 April 2011}}</ref>
[[File:Biserica Petru si Pavel din Sibiu.jpg|thumb|left|[[Greek Catholic Church, Sibiu|Church of St. Peter and Paul in Sibiu]] founded by Grigore Maior]]
At the death of Rednic, the electoral synod, on 15 August 1772, again voted for Maior, who this time was designated by the Empress on 27 October 1772 and appointed by [[Pope Clement XIV]] on 8 March 1773. His consecration as [[Bishop (Catholic Church)|bishop]] took place on 23 April 1773 in a chapel of the imperial palace in Vienna, by the hands of the [[Croat]] [[Vasilije Božičković]].<ref name="BRU"/><ref>at the time Byzantine vicar of the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Zagreb|Latin Bishop of Zagreb]], and from 1777 first bishop of the [[Eparchy of Križevci]]</ref> Empress Maria Theresa was present at the ceremony and was very impressed by the beautiful rituals of the [[Byzantine rite]] and by Major's speech, to whom the Empress bestowed a golden cross and a valuable ring.
As Primate of the Romanian Greek Catholic Church he sent many students to study in universities abroad and he worked hard for the expansion of the Church, obtaining in the first two years the joining of a considerable number of new villages. These efforts created resentment from Protestants and [[Romanian Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] who complained at the imperial court. He also sided for the social claims of the [[Revolt of Horea, Cloşca and Crişan]].<ref name="BRU"/> For these reasons he was forced to resign, as he did on 13 March 1782.
He died in a monastery in [[Alba Iulia]] on 7 February 1785.<ref name="BRU1"/>
==Notes==
{{reflist}}
{{BRUHeads}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maior, Grigore}}
[[Category:1715 births]]
[[Category:1785 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Tășnad]]
[[Category:Primates of the Romanian Greek Catholic Church]]
[[Category:Order of Saint Basil the Great]]
[[Category:18th-century Eastern Catholic bishops]]
[[Category:18th-century Romanian people]]
[[Category:Romanian people in the Principality of Transylvania (1711–1867)]]