Hungarian refugees 1956

Cardinal-archbishop of Esztergom, primate of Hungary; b. March 29, , Mindszent, Hungary; d. May 6, , Vienna, Austria. For a major part of his long and distinguished career in the church, Cardinal Mindszenty personified the struggle for religious freedom under the Communist regimes of Eastern Europe. From the time of his show trial and imprisonment by the Communist rulers of Hungary, through his release during the Hungarian Revolution and his long self-imposed imprisonment in the American legation in Budapest, to his eventual exile from Hungary, his personal fate symbolized the condition of church-state relations in the twentieth century.

The political convulsions which afflicted Hungary during his lifetime inevitably drew Cardinal Mindszenty into public affairs. His village of Mindszent, where his family owned a small farm, had changed little under centuries of Habsburg rule, but his studies for the priesthood opened the wider world of classical learning.

Bakócz chapel

By the time of his ordination, June 12, , World War I had begun to dissolve many traditional social and political relationships as well as to impose extraordinary demands on his services as a curate, teacher, newspaper editor, and community advisor. The loss of the war and the overthrow of the Habsburg monarchy left a political vacuum in Hungary.

The shift to the rightist policies of Admiral Horthy's regency allowed 25 years of dedicated parish work in Zalaegerszeg with politics overshadowed by concern for the community and the schools. When the Hungarian government imitated the Nazi persecution of Jews, the Hungarian bishops vigorously protested the violation of innate human rights.

Recognizing that the war was hopelessly lost, the government negotiated an armistice in October , but German forces installed a puppet regime in Hungary to continue the fighting. He remained a prisoner until the complete German withdrawal from Hungary in April The end of the war left Hungary devastated and disillusioned. Bishop Mindszenty, who became archbishop of Esztergom in September and a cardinal in February , organized relief efforts to overcome the food shortages, to treat the widespread illnesses, and to provide for refugees.