Heroic Hungarian Cardinal honoured in Wellington

A special plaque made in Hungary was unveiled at a function on November 21. The cathedral was filled for the occasion, with attendees including Hungarian Ambassador Dr Gábor Nagy, Apostolic Nuncio to New Zealand Archbishop Gábor Pintér, who is Hungarian, and members of the Hungarian community in Wellington and the lower North Island.

The unveiling of the plaque was followed by a recitation of the Lord’s Prayer in Hungarian, then the singing of the national anthems of Hungary and Aotearoa New Zealand. Finally, everyone gathered in the cathedral foyer for Hungarian desserts.

Politically active from the time of his ordination as a priest in 1915, Mindszenty was arrested as an enemy of totalitarian governments twice in 1919 and again in 1944, the year in which he was made Bishop of Veszprém. In 1945, he was appointed primate of Hungary and Archbishop of Esztergom, and in 1946 he was made a cardinal.

He was to be imprisoned again – this time by the communists who took over Hungary, who tortured and sentenced him to life in prison in a show trial. Freed during the Hungarian Revolution in 1956, Cardinal Mindszenty took shelter in the US Embassy, where he remained for 15 years.

Finally allowed to leave in 1971, he spent the rest of his life in exile, and died in 1975. Shortly before his death, he visited Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch in December 1974.

An important and inspiring figure for the Hungarian diaspora throughout the world, one of his famous quotes is: “Goodness is the greatest truth”.

In 2019, Pope Francis formally recognised that Cardinal Mindszenty had lived the Christian virtues in an heroic way – which is an early step in the process for sainthood.

FULL STORY

Facebook (Archdiocese of Wellington)

József Cardinal Mindszenty [Catholic-Hierarchy] (Catholic-Hierarchy)

József Mindszenty | Martyr, Cardinal, Martyrdom | Britannica (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Sainthood causes of Blessed Newman, Cardinal Mindszenty advance (National Catholic Reporter)