I stand for God, for the Church and for Hungary. This responsibility has been imposed upon me by the fate of the nation which stands alone, an orphan in the whole world. Compared with the sufferings of my people, my own fate is of no importance.
József Cardinal Mindszenty, Primate of Hungary, 1948
The Hungarian Revolt of 1956 was an extremely important turning point in the Cold War. It demonstrated to the world that Eastern Europe was not, and never would be, Communist, but rather merely territory held down by the force of the Red Army. This spirit of resistance lived on in each of the countries in the Warsaw Pact from the first imposition of Communist governments at the end of the World War II to the fall of the Communist states at the end of the eighties. It was a magnificent struggle that is too little celebrated in the West.
The heart and soul of the struggle in Hungary was one of the great men of the 20th Century: József Cardinal Mindszenty, primate of Hungary. Imprisoned by the pro-Nazi government in Hungary during World War II, he was imprisoned, tortured and condemned in a show trial by the puppet Communist regime after World War II. Freed by Hungarian patriots during the Hungarian revolt, he quickly joined the revolt. After it was crushed he took refuge in the American embassy in Budapest where he stayed for 15 years, a symbol of the unconquerable spirit of his beloved Hungary. Shamefully, in my view, the Vatican compromised with the Communist regime, annulling the excommunication imposed by Pius XII on all involved with the trial of Mindszenty, and calling him “a victim of history” rather than “a victim of Communism”. Mindszenty traveled to Vienna rather than Rome, upset at the suggestion of the Vatican that he should retire and live in Rome. He was stripped of his titles by Pope Paul VI in 1973, although the Pope did not fill the primacy until after the Cardinal died in 1975. The Church in Hungary has launched a strong effort to have the Cardinal proclaimed a saint, and I pray that it is soon crowned with deserved success.
Martyrdom comes in many flavors. What a great man and, other than God, such weak support he had to help him face the trials. Would that we had many clergy like him today, but, alas, we don’t.
The 70-year toxic diplomacy of the Vatican’s “Ostpolitik” (you could add its Sino-politik), which has produced no positive fruit in nearly a century now, which policy invited KGB agents festooned as ecumenical Russian Orthodox observers to Vatican II, which thinking historian Roberto de Mattei says set aside the condemnation of communism at the same council, or which is stunningly documented in subverting the Fatima message in Mark Fellows’ “Fatima in Twilight,” may be the single worst policy decision in Catholic Church history.
And yet the Vatican’s love affair with communist dictatorships continues.
I would like to put a plug in for the Cardinal Mindszenty foundation, publisher of the Mindszenty Report. For 64 years they have been warning of the dangers of communist infiltration and activity in the United States and around the world. In addition to the latest reports, they also maintain an archive of the monthly eports that predate the internet. https://mindszenty.org/
On a secular note, despite the criticism from various quarters, Orban seems to have been quite successful at preserving Hungary’s independence and unity without involving his country in contentious international matters. Much can be attributed to the sense of national solidarity represented by Cardinal Mindszenty during the Soviet occupation.
NB, Hungary was under German occupation for a year (March 1944 to March 1945). There was a tug of war between Admiral Horthy and the Germans for six months before Germany arrested the Admiral and imposed a satrapy run by figures from the Arrow Cross Party. It was this ministry which had the Cardinal arrested.
Oh, to have such a Cardinal again. Yes, may he be canonized for his great faithfulness. And yet the one who stripped him of titles was “canonized” even though there were no verifiable miracles nor cult.