Background
Virgil Bercea was born on 9 December 1957 in Habic, Mureş County, Romania.
Virgil Bercea was born on 9 December 1957 in Habic, Mureş County, Romania.
He studied in his town, and after the military service he attended the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca from 1977 to 1981.
He worked as agricultural engineer and researcher till 1990. After ordination he served in underground as priest in the town of Târgu Mureş. After Romanian Revolution of 1989 he could go to attend a specialization in dogmatic theology in the Pontifical Urbaniana University, in Rome, and from 1992 he was appointed general vicar in Blaj.
On 20 July 1994 he was appointed auxiliary bishop of Greek Catholic Archdiocese of Făgăraş and Alba Iulia and so consecrated bishop by Major Archbishop Lucian Mureșan on 8 September 1994.
On 6 November 1996 he was appointed coadjutor bishop of the Greek Catholic Diocese of Oradea Mare, to which he succeeded on 8 June 1997. In 2003 he was awarded the academic title of doctor of theology by Pontifical Urbaniana University.
Moreover, this manner of proceeding, that the Presidential Secretariat of State for Religion, I consider it an insult not only to the Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek Catholic, but also to the Orthodox Church or any other religion in Romania.".