“The Catholic Church in Hungary: A Historical Overview on the Occasion of Pope Francis’ Pastoral Visit”

(Vatican News Network)The history of the Hungarian Church is closely related to the history of the Hungarian state.

Saint Stephen, founder of the Hungarian Church

Saint Stephen I (István) of the Magyar Arpadian dynasty was crowned the first king of Hungary in 1000 after his conversion to Christianity. In 1083, King Stephen, together with his son Emeric and Bishop Gerard of Csanád, was canonized by Pope Gregory VII and became the patron saint of the country. .

St. Stephen I, known as the “Apostolic King”, not only reconstructed the socio-political structure of the Magyar nomads (who migrated from Asia to the Carpathian Basin in the late 9th century), unifying their 39 counties into A kingdom, and in terms of religious life, lays the foundation for a solid Christian national identity.

During his reign, many churches and monasteries were founded, including the famous Benedictine monastery of St. Diocese – Archdiocese of Esztergom (Strigonium/Esztergom, 50 km north of Budapest).

After the death of Saint Stephen I, the Kingdom of Hungary became involved in the “War of the Investments” between the Empire and the Pope, and sided with the Pope. During the reign of Louis the Great in the 14th century, the state and church structures were consolidated and new dioceses were established.

During the Reformation, most Magyars converted to Protestantism, but after Hungary was fully incorporated into the Habsburg Empire in the 17th century, many returned to the embrace of the Mother Church, thanks to the efforts of Catholic missionaries. The main figure of the Counter-Reformation in the country was Cardinal Péter Pázmány (1570-1637), Archbishop of Esztergom and Jesuit Cardinal Pázmány (Nagyszombat, Slovakia), the first Catholic university in Hungary. Language: Trnava, founder of Trnava (now part of Slovakia) University.

In the 18th century, Queen Mary Theresa of Austria and her son Joseph II expelled various religious orders from the empire, including Hungary. In 1920, two years after the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1918), the Holy See of Rome and independent Hungary established diplomatic relations under the leadership of Regent Miklós Horthy, which lasted until 1945 until the Soviet Union occupied Hungary.

Hungarian Church under Communist rule

The Soviet occupation at the end of World War II marked the beginning of persecution of the Church in all Warsaw Pact countries, including Hungary. Many Catholic clergy were imprisoned or killed, churches were confiscated, schools were nationalized (1948), and all orders were dissolved (1950). In 1957, the state instituted a measure to prevent the Holy See from appointing bishops for the Hungarian diocese. The measure was later lifted by an agreement signed in Budapest on September 15, 1964, formally recognizing the Holy See’s right to appoint bishops, while still retaining the government’s right to refuse consent.

Cardinal Jozsef Mindszenty (1892-1975), a leading figure in the resistance to the communist regime, was declared Venerable by Pope Francis in 2019. Minzhendi was appointed Archbishop of Esztergom by Pope Pius XII in 1945 and was promoted to cardinal the following year. Cardinal Min Jinji was arrested in 1948, tortured, and convicted of “treason, espionage and money laundering” after a ludicrous trial. After eight years in prison, he was released during the Hungarian revolution in 1956 and subsequently received political asylum at the US embassy in Hungary. After 15 years, the cardinal left the American embassy in 1971 and moved to Vienna, Austria, where he died in 1975. In 1991, Min Zhenyi’s body was moved from Austria to the Esztergom Cathedral in Hungary and buried in the cathedral’s catacombs. Saint John Paul II, who visited his tomb in 1991, said that Min Zhendi left behind “a brilliant testimony of his devotion to Christ and his devotion to Church and State”. On February 12, 2019, Pope Francis recognized the heroic holiness of Cardinal Minzhendi, declaring him Venerable.

The Hungarian Church after 1989

The end of the communist regime, with the entry into force of a new religious freedom law passed in 1990, freed the Church in Hungary. On February 9 of the same year, the Hungarian government restored diplomatic relations with the Holy See of Rome. In 1991, the Hungarian parliament voted to pass a law on the return of church property confiscated after the war, and a proposal on state funding of churches was passed the following year.

Pope’s pastoral visit to Hungary

It was against this changing backdrop that Pope Saint John Paul II made two pastoral visits to Hungary on 16-20 August 1991 and 6-7 September 1996. The Pope presided over the first canonization since the fall of communism, the canonization of Bishop Vilmos Apor, a Hungarian martyr killed by Soviet soldiers on Good Friday, April 2, 1945. Other martyrs were also beatified in subsequent years.

The most important event of the Hungarian Church in the first decade of the post-communist era was the millennial celebration in 2000-2001 in honor of the baptism of Saint Stephen. On this occasion, Pope John Paul II issued an Apostolic Letter to the Catholic Hungarian Community on 25 July 2001.

During the 52nd International Congress of the Eucharist to be held in Budapest from September 12 to 15, 2021, the Pope arrived in Budapest on the 12th to preside over the closing mass for the congress and stayed for half a day.

The end of the communist regime marked the rebirth of the Hungarian Church, which is now baptized by some 6 million people, equivalent to 61% of its population of nearly 10 million, and is very active in various fields, including education. Over the past few decades, many religious groups have been gradually reestablished: today there are more than a hundred orders (only four survived the communist era). Another positive feature of the Church is the great vitality of the lay movement. In terms of media, the Hungarian Church has a number of Catholic radio stations, newspapers and magazines.

The Hungarian Church Today

The Hungarian church is active in many areas of social life. Maintaining the traditional family is one of the main pastoral priorities of the Hungarian church. The church has been strongly opposed to attempts to change the status of the family in the country’s laws, and actively safeguards the value of the traditional family.

The country’s bishops, who have repeatedly reaffirmed the Christian roots of European and Western civilization and Hungary’s Christian identity, are now threatened by so-called “neo-paganism”, “hedonism” and “radical liberal ideas”, trying to Implement a “relativist dictatorship” in the country.

Supporting persecuted Christians and accepting Ukrainian refugees is also an important mission of the church in the country. The Hungarian bishops have always been committed to carrying out ecumenical dialogue within the Christian community in the country and with neighboring countries, especially the work of reconciliation in the two neighboring countries, Slovakia and Romania, where the Hungarian ethnic group is very strong, in order to overcome the historical process. misunderstandings and disputes. The church’s generosity is also shown in support of persecuted Christians around the world, especially in the Middle East. Over the past few years, the Hungarian Church has promoted several initiatives for the war-torn Syrian Christian community and provided relief to refugee camps in the region. Furthermore, the Church has been generously supporting the thousands of Ukrainian refugees who fled their homeland following the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022.

Another focus of pastoral care is the fight against poverty and social exclusion. Of particular note in this regard is the pastoral care of the discriminated Roma community, which accounts for nearly 10 per cent of the country’s population. For many years, the Hungarian Local Church has been promoting their integration and education. For the first time in recent years, the Church has fully translated the Bible and the Missal into Lovari, the most spoken language of the Roma.

The theme of the Budapest Eucharistic Congress 2021 focuses on caring for the disadvantaged and friendship among peoples. Its motto is taken from the verse “All my fountains are in Thee” in Psalm 87, emphasizing the authenticity of the Eucharist. It means opening up and accepting each other.

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