„This is the Greatest Grievance to be Suffered by the Roman Catholic Church, and thus by Catholicism, since the Exiling of Pius VII”. The Vatican’s View on Mindszenty’s Arrest and Trial. (original) (raw)
Related papers
Unseen chapters from the life of Cardinal József Mindszenty
Fifteen years in refuge - Unseen chapters from the life of Cardinal József Mindszenty with Adam Somorjai OSB and András Miklós Deák, 2023
In 2019, Menedékben (Amerikai diplomaták Mindszenty bíborosról 1957-1970) (In Refuge - American diplomats on Cardinal Mindszenty 1957-1970) was published, the work of András Miklós Deák, Adam Somorjai OSB and Tibor Zinner. The book uses foreign affairs sources hitherto unpublished in Hungarian and it reveals the everyday life of the cardinal from the viewpoint of American diplomats. An interview
Two Visits — Two Eras : The Canadian Tours of Cardinal Joseph Mindszenty, 1947 and 1973
2013
Members of the generation who lived through the Cold War no doubt know the name of Joseph (in Hungarian József) Mindszenty who became a worldfamous symbol of the struggle against communism. Many saw in him a "victim of history" a "martyr from behind the Iron Curtain" while others called him the "Hungarian Ghandi" or just a "stubborn old gentleman." These were just a few of the epithets that people-depending on their sympathies or temperament-applied to Cardinal Mindszenty, the last of the Hungarian prelates who also held the title Prince Primate of Hungary. In his long life (1892-1975) he toured Canada twice, the first time in 1947 when he was in the prime of his life and then again in 1973 when he was nearing the end of his earthly existence. Each of these tours had an impact, in more than insignificant manner, on his future. The first trip contributed to his being arrested after returning to an increasingly communist-dominated Hungary, subjected to a show trial and being condemned to life imprisonment; while the second visit acted as a factor in his removal by the Holy See from his position as the Archbishop of Esztergom, the highest-ranking prelate of Hungary. The 1947 Visit At the time of Mindszenty's first trip to Canada, Hungary was in the midst of a campaign by the country's Communists and their allies to "separate" church and state and to break the churches' influence. Although formally Hungary was still being governed by a coalition government, a communist political system was well on its way of being foisted on the country's population. Under these circumstances conflict between the Hungarian state and the Catholic Church became endemic. The roots of this development can be traced on the one hand to communist ideology and on the other to the widespread
The Review of Politics, 1949
The arrest, trial and sentence for life of Joseph Cardnial Mindszenty, Primate of Hungary, has profoundly shaken the conscience of the Western world and provoked a wave of protests on a scale unheard of before. The incident occurred at the climax of the tension between West and East. The figure of the Cardinal became the personification of a world-wide struggle between two fundamentally different conceptions of life. His broken resistance—both physical and psychological—symbolizes the fate of the millions oppressed and silenced by a ruthless Communist minority in East Europe. The recntations and self-contradictory confessions in the course of the trial had all the characteristics of the usual travesties of justice in Communistdominated countries. Pope Pius XII rightly stated in his allocution of February 14, 1949, that the behavior of Cardinal Mindszenty “appeared an accusation not against himself but against his very accusers and condemners.”
Czech Journal of Contemporary History, 2020
In the author´s opinion, research projects dealing with the Catholic Church in the Czech Lands since the installment of the Communist regime in 1948 are somewhat closed in that there is very little communication between “ecclesiastic” and “non-ecclesiastic” historians. The article aims to describe causes of the situation and propose a way in which research into the history of the Catholic Church in the period referred to above could be included in broader discussions about the nature of the Communist dictatorship. The author opines that one of the reasons of the introversion is an intensive overreliance on works of the historian Karel Kaplan, which turns the attention of researchers away from topics not directly related to the repression of the Catholic Church and its representatives. In addition, the author questions the stereotypical presentation of the Communist Party and the Catholic Church in post-war Czechoslovakia as two irreconcilable opponents, mentioning their overall consensus and important contact points during the so-called Third Republic (1945–1948), using the example of the Communist historian and politician Zdeněk Nejedlý (1878–1962) and the Catholic author Adolf Kajpr (1902–1959), and also certain intersections of the Communist and the Catholic identities since 1948. The study outlines a possibility to capture the issue using a prism of concepts of legitimacy and hegemony based on the situation prevailing during the existence of the Third Republic, and thus open the research to new questions.
Roczniki Teologiczne
The fundamental purpose of this article is to present the specificity of the totalitarian communist regime to the status quo of the Catholic Church functioning in the Polish People's Republic in the early post-war period (1945−1956). Therefore, the analysis of the discussed issues allows one to expose the nature of the Stalinist system of repression described as the “dictatorship of the proletariat,” taking into account the tough and challenging situation of the Catholic Church, forced not only to fight for her survival but above all to preserve the Christian identity of the Polish nation. The reinterpretation of the Stalinist totalitarian system from the perspective of Christian personalistic praxeology discloses its unprecedentedly criminal nature. Moreover, the presentation of the fundamental assumptions of the totally anti-human and anti-Christian paradigm that characterizes the “dictatorship of the proletariat” makes it possible to interpret Stalinism in terms of not only d...
József Mindszenty and the British diplomacy, Part III, newer documents, January-June 1946
Mindszenty József és a brit diplomácia jelentései, III. rész. Újabb iratok 1946 január–júniusából, in: MEV-Essays in Church History in Hungary Year 30 No. 1-2. p. 84-112., 2018
In earlier publications we have dealt with the contacts of Prince Primate, Cardinal József Mindszenty with foreign, mostly with American Diplomats and Leaders of State. His first contact with the British diplomats in the Month September 1945 we have dealt in the 2015 yearbook of the VERITAS Historical Institute, the second part was published in this review, Year 2014, pages 297-317. Now we deal with his contacts with them in the months January until June 1946. The main topics of these six months are the following. The Vatican had not diplomatic channel to Hungary, so the good services of British diplomacy were asked for. The first topic is the possibility or not to send a nuncio to Budapest. – In the New Year’s broadcast to Hungarian Catholics the Prince Primate, Archbishop Mindszenty, has reopened controversy about the case of pastoral letter issued by him on the eve of general elections. The British envoy informs London with these words: “It is to be hoped that Cardinal Mindszenty, with his great potential power for good, will not broadcast such public utterances in the future; for they will only tend to bring him and the Catholic church into bad odour...”– The Cardinal visited personally the British Envoy January 4th and informed about the political situation in Hungary and on the internment camps. The Cardinal is caracterized with the words: “…we have here a man who is undoubtedly a strong and upright character, but who lacks tact. It would be in my opinion a thousand pities if this man, who would, I believe, be of considerable value to his country in the future, were to expend himself uselessly, and possibly only bring himself into such discredit as to nullify the useful work which he could probably do in the future.” Attacks against the Cardinal continued and British diplomats informed about them. Even Vatican diplomacy asked attention and consideration about the unfortunate condition of the people of Hungary and has sent documents of which origin was the same Prince Primate of Hungary: “The Holy See has recently received trustworthy reports from Hungary … the Secretariat of State, therefore, in the name of the Holy Father, would make this earnest appeal…” As the British envoy to the Vatican, Sir D’Arcy osborne, informs Msgr. Tardini in the Vatican Secretary of State, the the Russian don’t allow the send a nuncio tu Budapest, he continues with the words: “Do you not think it might be wise to urge Cardinal Mindszenty to be a little less violent and provocative in his utterances and attitude? It seems to me that he is going too far in exposing himself to the charge of bringing the Church into politics. As it now seems unlikely that there will in the disernible future be any Nuncio in Budapest to urge moderation upon him, it might perhaps be well for the Vatican to do so...” In this contribution we describe other utterances of the Cardinal and conclude with the caracterization of Sir osborne which was published in the internal circular letter of the British administration, including the King: see page 111, Note 67. Mindszenty continued his protests in the following months the same, this has to be the topic of future analysis.
Catholic Church in Lower Silesia against Communism (1945–1974), 2021
Post-war Lower Silesia was intended by the communists to be a "laboratory of socialism". Hence, they developed and pursued a special policy towards the Catholic Church. The book highlights the specificity of the pastoral ministry provided by the successive rulers of the Church in Wrocław (Karol Milik, Kazimierz Lagosz, Cardinal Bolesław Kominek) in the realities of the communist state. It shows the role of Cardinal Kominek who was persecuted for his attitude towards communists, his activity in the Polish Episcopate and in the forum of the universal Church. Moreover, it presents the system of repression aimed at diocesan clergy and religious orders and limiting theological education. With the objective of secularising the Lower Silesian society, the communists put emphasis on promoting their ideology, especially among the young generation. The Church responded with speeches by hierarchs condemning these activities and with pastoral initiatives to slow down the process.