Joseph
Mindszenty was ordained a priest in 1915. He was briefly imprisoned
during the Hungarian revolutions that followed the defeat of the
Austro-Hungarian Empire in the First World War. He was ordained Bishop
of Veszprem in 1944, only to be imprisoned after a German-backed coup
brought the fascist Arrow Cross party to power that same year. After
the end of the Second World War, he became Archbishop of Esztergom and
Primate of Hungary, and was named a Cardinal by Pope Pius XII. In 1948
he was arrested by the Soviet-backed communist government, and tortured
into confessing to a litany of crimes including conspiring with the US
to start a third World War and plotting to crown Otto von Habsburg as
King of Hungary. When the puppet government lost power in 1956,
Cardinal Mindszenty was freed, but during the Soviet invasion and
occupation which followed he was forced to take refuge in the American
embassy in Budapest. For 15 years he was unable to set foot outside the
embassy, lest he be arrested by the waiting secret police.
In 1962, this book was published by an American relative of the
Cardinal, collecting selections from his speeches, sermons, and
writings. There are some quite powerful passages, such as the account
of his ordination of ten priests in a fascist prison in 1944 -
Mindszenty relates that the candidates had to share a single candle, a
single surplice, and a single cassock, but each had his own assigned
prison guard. It is interesting to hear voices raised against the
deportation of Jews in 1944 also oppose the deportation of ethnic
Germans in 1946. Unfortunately there is little in the way of
introduction for the individual pieces that make up this patchwork book,
so that it is difficult to tell when and under what circumstances a
sermon was given or a pastoral letter issued, which rather dulls their
effect overall.
Great reading for anyone interested in the aftermath of World War II, resistance to tyranny, or human rights in general.
Yay for this being our 600th post!
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