The death of Cardinal-Archpriest József Mindszenty and his reburial thirty years ago will be commemorated in Esztergom on Saturday with a Mass and a nationwide pilgrimage, announced Csaba János Tóth, the press representative of the Archdiocese of Esztergom-Budapest.
In the Esztergom basilica, at 11:30 in the morning, Cardinal Péter Erdő, Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, will celebrate the Holy Mass, and the homily will be delivered by the Bishop of Kaposvár László Varga.
The faithful are also invited to the event as part of the traditional national pilgrimage.
Those participating in the Holy Mass must wear a mask and keep a distance from each other.
The ceremony will be broadcast live by Hungarian Catholic Radio and Radio Mária.
József Mindszenty was born in 1892, XII. Pope Pius appointed him bishop of Veszprém in 1944, shortly after that he was imprisoned by the Arrow government. He became archbishop of Esztergom and prince-primate of Hungary in 1945, and received the rank of cardinal in 1946.
The cardinal was illegally arrested on December 26, 1948, and then sentenced to life imprisonment in the second degree in July 1949 on trumped-up charges. After six years in prison in Budapest, due to his deteriorating health, he was detained in Püspökszentlászló from August 17, 1955, and in Felsőpetény from November 2. He was released from there on October 30, 1956.
In the early hours of November 4th, after an attack by Soviet troops, he took refuge in the US embassy. He was only able to leave the embassy 15 years later, on September 28, 1971, at which time he first went to Rome and then to Vienna.
József Mindszenty died on May 6, 1975, and was buried in Mariazell.
The Supreme Court declared him innocent on May 18, 1990. His body was ceremoniously brought home on May 4, 1991, and then reburied in the sub-church of the Esztergom basilica.
The beatification trial of the martyred cardinal began in 1994 and is still ongoing in the Vatican. In February 2019, Pope Francis recognized the sanctity of József Mindszenty, and one more miracle needs to be proven for his beatification.
MTI
Photo: National Photo Gallery
