Studia Humanitatis No. I (X) / 2020
The Church and the political unity of the Romanians
Acad. Ioan-Aurel Pop The role of the Orthodox and Greek Catholic Churches in shaping Romanian national identity can be traced from medieval documents, such as the papal bull of 1234 addressed to King Bela IV, right up to the Great National Assembly at Alba Iulia on 1 December 1918, where the bishops Miron Cristea and Iuliu Hossu presided over the act of union. For Romanians, throughout the ages, the Church has represented not only a place of worship, but also a bastion of ethnic resilience, an instrument of national emancipation and a unifying force for the community in the face of external political and religious pressures.