Ioan Giurgiu Patachi was born from a family of small
nobility in
Horgospataka (today Strâmbu, part of Chiuiești, Romania),
Kolozs County in 1680. An orphan, he was raised by his uncle who left him in the
Jesuits' care. He studied in
Kolozsvár (today Cluj-Napoca, Romania),
Vienna and later he was sent to the
German and Hungarian College of
Rome where he remained from 1705 to 1710. In Rome, on 24 September 1707, he was ordained a
Roman Rite priest. After graduation, he served as Latin priest in
Fogaras (today Făgăraș, Romania). The first Greek Catholic Bishop of the territory of present-day
Romania, the bishop of
Gyulafehérvár (today Alba Iulia, Romania),
Atanasie Anghel, died on 19 August 1713, and his succession was problematic. At first the Synod of the Church elected a
Jesuit, Ferenc Szunyogh, who refused. Later the Synod elected the former secretary of Atanasie, Venceslav Franz, but this selection was opposed by the
Habsburg monarch, the
Emperor Charles VI, because Franz was a
layman. Finally on 23 December 1715 a consensus was reached on the name of Patachi. He died a few years later, on 29 October 1727 in
Alsószombatfalva,
Brassó County (today Sâmbăta de Jos, part of Voila, Romania). ==Notes==