VATICAN ARCHIVAL DATA ON THE SITUATION OF HUNGARIAN CATHOLICS IN TRANSYLVANIA AFTER THE FIRST WORLD WAR
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24193/theol.cath.latina.2026.LXXI.1.05Keywords:
Transylvania, Hungarian minority, Roman Catholic Church, Romania, Holy See, minority rights, education, propertyAbstract
This study, based on research conducted in the Vatican Apostolic Archives, seeks to shed light on several data and details that remain less familiar to contemporary Hungarian historiography and that, in my view, constitute important elements of the broader mosaic from which a compre-hensive picture of the Hungarian population in Transylvania between the two world wars may be reconstructed. The period examined here extends from 1918 to 1932, from the incorporation of Transylvania into Romania to the signing of the 1932 Agreement, which in several respects settled the situation of Hungarian Catholics who had been placed at a disadvantage by the 1927 Concordat. In addition to this main theme, the situation of Roman Catholic Hungarians in Transylvania can also be followed through a number of subsidiary threads, which likewise reveal aspects that help us understand the position of the Holy See on this question. The archival sources show that, alongside universal ecclesial and diplomatic interests, Rome also kept the question of minority rights in view and, over time, attached increasing importance to it.
Article history: Received 03.05.2026; Revised 05.05.2026; Accepted 15.05.2026.
Available online: 01.07.2026. Available print: 31.07.2026.
References
Primary sources:
Monitorul Oficial, Law no. 93 of 30 July 1921 on agrarian reform in Transylvania, Banat, Crișana, and Maramureș, source: https://www.cdep.ro/pls/legis/legis_pck.htp_act_text?idt=65850, accessed 4 August 2024.
Unirea Poprului, III/25, 19 June 1921.
Vatican Apostolic Archives, Archivi Delle Rappresentanze della Santa Sede presso Organizzazioni Internazionali
A pápai nuncius Gyulafehérváron, Erdélyi tudósító, IV/13-14, 1 July 1921; source: AAV, Arch. Nunz. Romania, 1243A, 12, P169.
Arch. Nunz. Romania, 1243A, bundle 12, P169.
AAV, Arch. Nunz. Romania, 1243A, 12, 2913/May 1923.
AAV, Arch. Nunz. Romania, 1243A, 12, 2913/May 1923.
AAV, Arch. Nunz. Romania, 1243A, 12, 6/18, 50/26 November 1920.
AAV, Arch. Nunz. Romania, 1243A, 6/16, 163/3 February 1921.
AAV, Arch. Nunz. Romania, 1243A, 6/18, 578/11 May 1921.
Arch. Nunz. Romania, 1243A, 6/12, 28 May 1921.
AAV, Arch. Nunz. Romania, 1243A, 6/18, 18 May 1922.
AAV, Arch. Nunz. Romania, 1243A, 12, 1650/2 October 1922.
AAV, Arch. Nunz. Romania, 1243A, 8/24, 9153/30 October 1922.
AAV, Arch. Nunz. Romania, 1243A, 8/24, 10632/1 December 1922.
AAV, Arch. Nunz. Romania, 1243A, 8/24, 12024/2 January 1923.
AAV, Arch. Nunz. Romania, 1243A, 8/24, 27 January 1923.
AAV, Arch. Nunz. Romania, 1243A, 8/24, 2556/13 February 1923.
AAV, Arch. Nunz. Romania, 1243A, 18/56, 4056/29 March 1925.
AAV, Arch. Nunz. Romania, 1243A, 18/56, 4188/26 November 1925.
AAV, Arch. Nunz. Romania, 1243A, 18/56, 1/16 December 1925.
AAV, Arch. Nunz. Romania, 1243A, 38/182, 4559/26 May 1927.
AAV, Arch. Nunz. Romania, 1243A, 18/57, 4674/1 August 1927.
AAV, Arch. Nunz. Romania, 1243A, 20/61, 3013/31, 4 December 1931.
Secondary sources:
András, Szabolcs, A kolozsvári minorita templom átadása a görögkatolikus egy-háznak, in: Erdélyi Krónika, source: https://erdelyikronika.net/2020/02/06/a-kolozsvari-minorita-templom-atadasa-a-gorogkatolikus-egyhaznak/, [Accessed 4 August 2024].
András Szabolcs, Az erdélyi római katolikus szerzetesi oktatás helyzetváltozása az I. világháború után, Sapientiana, 2023/16 (2), 63–74.
András Szabolcs, Iskola múlt időben. A gyergyószentmiklósi Fogarassy Leánynevelő Intézet története, Gheorgheni: F&F International, 2016.
András, Szabolcs, New Details Regarding the Expulsion of Bishop Gyula Glattfelder from Romania, Studia Theologica Catholica Latina, LXI, 1 (2016), Cluj-Napoca: Babeș-Bolyai University Press, 87–98.
Búza László, A Szentszék nemzetközi jogi helyzete a lateráni egyezmény szerint, Magyar Jogászegyleti Értekezések, vol. XX, 1929/103, Budapest: Franklin Társulat. https://www.archivioapostolicovaticano.va/content/aav/en/l-archivio/note-storiche.html, [Accessed 3 August 2024].
https://www.vaticanstate.va/it/stato-governo/note-generali/origini-natura.html, [Accessed 3 August 2024].
Feldkamp, Michael F., La diplomazia pontifica da Silvestro I a Giovanni Paolo II. Un profilo, Milan: Jaca Book, 1995, 84.
Jakabffy Elemér, Erdély statisztikája, Magyar Kisebbség, Nemzetpolitikai Szemle, Lugos, 1923.
Milo, Ofelia, România şi Sfântul Scaun în a doua jumătate a secolului al XIX-lea, PhD dissertation, Cluj-Napoca: Babeș-Bolyai University, 2008.
Netzhammer, Raymund, Episcop în România, vol. II, Bucharest: Editura Academiei Române, 2005.
Szabó Kálmán Attila (ed.), Az erdélyi tanító- és óvóképzés évszázadai, Târgu Mureș: Mentor, 2009.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Studia Universitatis Babeș-Bolyai Theologia Catholica Latina
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
