Iuliu Hossu and 6 bishops

The work of these seven bishops is intrinsically linked to the defense of the spiritual identity and freedom of the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church. After the Second World War, the installation of the atheist communist regime subservient to Moscow sounded the death knell for religious freedom. On December 1, 1948, by an official decree, the communist government declared the Greek-Catholic Church outlawed, confiscated its property, and ordered the forced integration of its faithful into the Romanian Orthodox Church. Faced with this injunction, the seven bishops categorically refused to renounce their faith and break their communion with the Pope. Arrested on the night of October 28, 1948, they began a long ordeal of prisons and detention camps. Despite constant pressure, brutal interrogations, and promises of privileges if they agreed to convert to Orthodoxy, none of them gave in. Mgr Iuliu Hossu was first interned at the Căldărușani monastery, then transferred in 1950 to the terrible Sighet prison. Released from Sighet in 1955, he was kept under strict house arrest at the Orthodox monastery of Căldărușani until his death. In 1969, Pope Paul VI decided to elevate him to the dignity of cardinal in pectore (in secret) during the consistory of April 28, 1969. The communist regime then offered him the chance to leave Romania for Rome to receive his cardinal's hat, but Mgr Hossu refused to leave his country and his persecuted flock, preferring to remain a prisoner. His cardinalate creation was only published posthumously on March 5, 1973.

The cause for the beatification and canonization of Iuliu Hossu and his six companion bishops was officially opened on January 28, 1997, in Alba Iulia, under the aegis of the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church. The diocesan inquiry, tasked with gathering historical evidence of their lives, their virtues, and especially the circumstances of their deaths in detention, concluded on March 10, 2009, and was formally transmitted to Rome in 2011. After a meticulous examination of the file by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Pope Francis signed, on March 19, 2019, the decree officially recognizing their martyrdom in odium fidei (in hatred of the faith). This recognition exempted the cause from the presentation of a miracle performed through their intercession.

The solemn beatification ceremony took place on Sunday, June 2, 2019, during Pope Francis's apostolic visit to Romania. The Holy Father presided over the Divine Liturgy in the Byzantine rite on the "Field of Liberty" (Câmpia Libertății) in Blaj, a highly symbolic place for the history of Transylvania and the United Church. Before a crowd of more than 60,000 faithful, Pope Francis proclaimed the seven martyr bishops blessed.

Their collective liturgical feast was set for June 2 by the Synod of Bishops of the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church, commemorating the day of their beatification. Individually, they are also inscribed in the martyrology on the respective dates of their deaths (May 28 for Iuliu Hossu).

The spirituality of the seven martyr bishops is characterized by an absolute fidelity to the unity of the Church, lived not as an abstract idea, but as an attachment of love to Christ. Their witness is also marked by a total absence of hatred toward their persecutors, embodying a profound mercy. During his captivity, Bishop Iuliu Hossu spoke these prophetic words: "God has sent us into this darkness of suffering to grant forgiveness and to pray for the conversion of all." His episcopal motto, which became the leitmotif of his life and his martyrdom, was: "Credința noastră este viața noastră" ("Our faith is our life").

Their legacy remains alive and transcends confessional boundaries. In June 2025, during the Jubilee Year of Hope, Pope Leo XIV presided over a solemn commemorative act in honor of Blessed Cardinal Iuliu Hossu in the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican. This commemoration highlighted not only his martyrdom under communism but also his heroic action to save Jews during the Shoah, in the presence of Silviu Vexler, president of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Romania. The process for his recognition as "Righteous Among the Nations" by the Yad Vashem memorial, initiated in 2022, testifies to the universal reach of his charity and courage.