THE PORTRAIT OF BISHOP IOAN PATACHI AND THE TYPOLOGY OF THE GREAT HIERARCHS OF THE ROMANIAN UNITED CHURCH – ASPECTS OF THE DISCOURSE OF IDENTITY, FROM THE CORYPHAEI OF THE TRANSYLVANIAN SCHOOL TO THE INTERWAR PERIOD

Abstract

The Portrait of Bishop Ioan Patachi and the Typology of the Great Hierarchs of the Romanian Uniate Church – Aspects of the Discourse of Identity, from the Coryphaei of the Transylvanian School to the Interwar Period. The present study aims to recreate the image of the Uniate bishop Ioan Patachi as depicted in the official discourse of identity elaborated by the intellectual elite of the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church from the second half of the 18^th century to the Inter-War period. A controversial figure in the Church history, with rather few information and documents available for the general public, bishop Patachi’s figure evolved over time, from a rather negative overall picture in the writings of Samuil Micu or Petru Maior, to a more positive one, built around his description as one of the Founders of the Uniate Church in Transylvania and a predecessor of bishop Inochentie Micu Klein, the symbol of the struggle for national, social and economic emancipation of the Romanians. 

Cuvinte-cheie: Ioan Patachi, discurs identitar, greco-catolic, portret oficial – evocare, tipologie ierarh.