Ioan Vancea


Ioan Vancea was an Austro-Hungarian ethnic Romanian bishop of the Greek-Catholic Church. Born to noble parents in Văşad, Bihor County, he was ordained a priest in 1845 following studies in Oradea and Vienna. After the death of Ioan Alexi, he was consecrated Bishop of Gherla in 1865. Three years later, following the death of Alexandru Sterca-Șuluțiu, he was elected Archbishop of Făgăraş and Alba Iulia, enthroned at Blaj in 1869. He advocated the rights of Romanians in Transylvania and contested the authorities' policy of Magyarization. Vancea died in office in 1892.