Românii din Banat în viziunea nunţilor apostolici vienezi din a doua jumătate a secolului al XIX-lea
The Romanians of Banat As Seen by the Viennese Apostolic Nuncios in the Second Half of the 19th Century

Summary/Abstract: The Romanians of Banat As Seen by the Viennese Apostolic Nuncios in the Second Half of the 19th Century. The establishment of the Greek-Catholic Metropolitan See of Făgăraş and Alba Iulia (1853) drew once again the attention of the Viennese and papal authorities to the Romanians of Banat and Transylvania. More than ever interested in consolidating this Catholic frontier in the Austrian Empire, the Holy See initiated a wide investigation meant to lead to the knowledge of Romanian realities. With the view to implementing this project, Rome decided to organize apostolic visitations and charged the Viennese nuncios to inform the Holy See about the real state-of-facts in the respective area. The present paper aims at reconstructing the picture of the first impact with Romanian realities, as seen by the apostolic envoys in their visits to Banat. Their notes presented to Rome substantiated and partly enriched the series of cliches and stereotypes circulating in the Western tradition circles, which determined distorted overall pictures, often focused on the negative aspect of Romanian life and spirituality. Their testimonies revealed a Church and a world "seen from without". It was the perspective of those come from another area and civilization, for whom the contact with a prevailingly rural society often brought about most variegate attitudes and reactions.

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