The Most Famous

RELIGIOUS FIGURES from Romania

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This page contains a list of the greatest Romanian Religious Figures. The pantheon dataset contains 3,187 Religious Figures, 8 of which were born in Romania. This makes Romania the birth place of the 44th most number of Religious Figures behind Peru, and Denmark.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Romanian Religious Figures of all time. This list of famous Romanian Religious Figures is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Romanian Religious Figures.

Photo of John Cassian

1. John Cassian (360 - 435)

With an HPI of 64.65, John Cassian is the most famous Romanian Religious Figure.  His biography has been translated into 37 different languages on wikipedia.

John Cassian, also known as John the Ascetic and John Cassian the Roman (Latin: Ioannes Eremita Cassianus, Ioannus Cassianus, or Ioannes Massiliensis; Greek: Ίωάννης Κασσιανός ό Ερημίτης; c. AD 360 – c. 435), was a Christian monk and theologian celebrated in both the Western and Eastern churches for his mystical writings. Cassian is noted for his role in bringing the ideas and practices of early Christian monasticism to the medieval West.

Photo of Peter Mogila

2. Peter Mogila (1596 - 1647)

With an HPI of 60.09, Peter Mogila is the 2nd most famous Romanian Religious Figure.  Her biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Petro Mohyla or Peter Mogila (21 December 1596 – 1 January [O.S. 22 December] 1647) was the Metropolitan of Kiev, Galicia and all Rus' in the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in the Eastern Orthodox Church from 1633 to 1646.

Photo of Stephen Pongracz

3. Stephen Pongracz (1582 - 1619)

With an HPI of 54.55, Stephen Pongracz is the 3rd most famous Romanian Religious Figure.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Stephen Pongracz (Hungarian: Pongrácz István; 1584–1619) was a Hungarian Jesuit priest, martyr and saint of the Catholic Church.

Photo of Lucian Mureșan

4. Lucian Mureșan (b. 1931)

With an HPI of 53.58, Lucian Mureșan is the 4th most famous Romanian Religious Figure.  His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Lucian Mureșan (born 23 May 1931) is a Romanian prelate of the Romanian Greek Catholic Church who has been the first Major Archbishop of the Greek Catholic Archdiocese of Făgăraș and Alba Iulia since 2005. He was archbishop there from 1994 to 2005 and bishop of Maramureș from 1990 to 1994. He has been a cardinal of the Catholic Church since 2012. As Major Archbishop of Făgăraș and Alba Iulia he is based in Blaj and is the head of the Romanian Greek Catholic Church.

Photo of Sabbas the Goth

5. Sabbas the Goth (334 - 372)

With an HPI of 52.49, Sabbas the Goth is the 5th most famous Romanian Religious Figure.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Sabbas the Goth (Romanian: Sava Gotul, Greek: Σάββας ο Γότθος; died 12 April 372) was a Christian martyr venerated as a saint. Born in eastern Romania, Sabbas became a Christian in his youth. Fearing that Christianity would undermine Gothic culture, King Athanaric began a persecution of Christians. Sabbas refused to eat meat that had been sacrificed to the Gothic gods. He was arrested along with Sansalas the priest, and drowned. Basil of Caesarea later obtained his relics. The Passio of Sabbas gives some insight into Gothic life and culture.

Photo of Iuliu Hossu

6. Iuliu Hossu (1885 - 1970)

With an HPI of 49.92, Iuliu Hossu is the 6th most famous Romanian Religious Figure.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Iuliu Hossu (30 January 1885 – 28 May 1970) was a Romanian Greek-Catholic prelate who served as the Bishop of Cluj-Gherla. Pope Paul VI elevated Hossu to the rank of cardinal in pectore, that is, secretly, in 1969 but did not publish his appointment until after Hossu's death. The Communist authorities arrested Hossu on 28 October 1948. From 1950 to 1955 he was detained as political prisoner at the Sighet Prison. He spent the rest of his life under house arrest and died in 1970. He is venerated in the Catholic Church as a martyr and blessed, having been beatified by Pope Francis.

Photo of Alexandru Todea

7. Alexandru Todea (1912 - 2002)

With an HPI of 48.81, Alexandru Todea is the 7th most famous Romanian Religious Figure.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Alexandru Todea (5 June 1912, Teleac, Mureș County–22 May 2002, Târgu Mureș) was a Romanian Greek-Catholic bishop of the Alba Iulia Diocese and later cardinal. He was also a victim of the communist regime, suffering at Jilava, Sighet, and Pitești prisons. Born into a peasant family, Todea was the 13th of 16 children. After attending primary school in his native village, and high school in Reghin and Blaj, Metropolitan bishop Vasile Suciu send him to pursue his theological studies in Rome. He received his doctorate from the Pontificio Collegio Urbano de Propaganda Fide and returned to Romania in 1940. He was created cardinal on 28 June 1991 and given the titular church of Sant'Atanasio a Via Tiburtina. Todea is buried at the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Blaj.

Photo of Vilmos Apor

8. Vilmos Apor (1892 - 1945)

With an HPI of 48.38, Vilmos Apor is the 8th most famous Romanian Religious Figure.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Baron Vilmos Apor de Altorja (29 February 1892 – 2 April 1945) was a Hungarian Roman Catholic prelate, born as a baron in the noble Apor family, and served as a bishop during World War II. He became famous for protesting against the persecution of the Hungarian Jewish population and for his steadfast commitment to the poor. His outreach also extended to abuse victims with a particular emphasis on the protection of women - it would be this latter commitment that saw him sustain fatal injuries leading to his death. Apor dedicated himself to being an opponent of both communism and Nazism and used his sermons as a platform to condemn them though coming at a great personal risk to himself. Apor was a beloved figure in his diocese, where people hailed him as a great saint upon learning of his death. The beatification process opened on 5 March 1991 and culminated after Pope John Paul II presided over the beatification in Saint Peter's Square on 9 November 1997.

Photo of Lőrinc Schlauch

9. Lőrinc Schlauch (1824 - 1902)

With an HPI of 46.07, Lőrinc Schlauch is the 9th most famous Romanian Religious Figure.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Lőrinc Schlauch (27 March 1824 – 10 July 1902) was a Hungarian Roman Catholic cardinal and archbishop during 19th and 20th century. He was born in Arad in the Banat region of the Austrian Empire and was a son of Lorenz von Linden. He was appointed as a chaplain in 1847 and from 25 July 1873 to 26 May 1886, he was bishop of the Szatmárnémeti diocese. He was created a cardinal in the consistory on 12 June 1893 by Pope Leo XIII with the title of San Girolamo dei Croati. From 1886 until his death in Nagyvárad in 1902, he served as bishop of the Nagyvárad diocese.

Photo of Solomon Schechter

10. Solomon Schechter (1847 - 1915)

With an HPI of 45.39, Solomon Schechter is the 10th most famous Romanian Religious Figure.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Solomon Schechter (Hebrew: שניאור זלמן הכהן שכטר‎; 7 December 1847 – 19 November 1915) was a Moldavian-born British-American rabbi, academic scholar and educator, most famous for his roles as founder and President of the United Synagogue of America, President of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and architect of American Conservative Judaism.

People

Pantheon has 11 people classified as Romanian religious figures born between 334 and 1931. Of these 11, 1 (9.09%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Romanian religious figures include Lucian Mureșan. The most famous deceased Romanian religious figures include John Cassian, Peter Mogila, and Stephen Pongracz. As of April 2024, 3 new Romanian religious figures have been added to Pantheon including Vilmos Apor, Lőrinc Schlauch, and Andreo Cseh.

Living Romanian Religious Figures

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Deceased Romanian Religious Figures

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Newly Added Romanian Religious Figures (2024)

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Overlapping Lives

Which Religious Figures were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 6 most globally memorable Religious Figures since 1700.