Pope Francis invited to visit the town of Blaj în 2018

Pope Francis has been invited to visit the town of Blaj, the centre of Greek Catholicism in Romania, on an official invitation extended by Greek-Catholic Cardinal Lucian. 

"There is an invitation extended by His Beatitude Cardinal Lucian, so an official invitation not just on his behalf, but in the name of the Synod, that is of all bishops, to the Pope to come to Blaj. That would be significant because last time a pontiff visited Romania such visit could not be paid. Pope John Paul II stayed in Bucharest exclusively. This time, all the Greek-Catholic believers, the Catholics in general, could wait for the pope here. And I believe that would be welcome," Bishop Claudiu of the Major Archbishopric Curia said on Wednesday in Alba Iulia. 

He also said 2018 will also be the centennial of Romania's Great Union. 

Last week, Roman-Catholic Archbishop Ioan Robu of Bucharest said he is optimistic about the pope's visit to Romania in 2018, which could coincide with the beatification of six Greek-Catholic bishops from Romania that were killed in Communist jails. 

In May 1999, Pope John Paul II visited Romania. It was the first pontifical visit to a mainly Christian Orthodox country.

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