St. II. During the papacy of János Pál, in 1991, Hungary's embassy in Szentszék was inaugurated, which is now preparing a festive photo documentation for the anniversary, the representation in Szentszék told MTI. On December 4, 1991, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the head of the Holy See's State Secretariat, solemnly inaugurated the building of the diplomatic mission, giving his blessing to the Holy Father II. in the name of János Pál.
The building of the Hungarian embassy in Szentszék is located in the famous Villa Fraknói in Rome. The villa was built in 1894 by Vilmos Fraknói, canon of Nagyvárad and titular bishop of Arbe, in the 19th and 20th centuries. a large-format figure of 19th-century Hungarian Catholicism, a forerunner of Hungarian historical research at the Vatican, who was also a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
The bishop and versatile scientist realized that the creation of an institution in Rome that pays attention to organized historical research, brings together and directs this research, cannot be postponed from the Hungarian side as well. Fraknói financed the creation of the institution, which coordinates scientific work and provides accommodation for researchers, from his own ecclesiastical benefice and considerable private wealth, and immediately opened the palace to talented Hungarian historians as a patron.
The building, located in the villa district of Rome at the time, was completed in 1895.
The Hungarian Institute of History has provided a place for many historians and artists on scholarship. The founder gave the building to the Hungarian state in 1914. Later, based on the Treaty of Trianon, the villa came into the possession of Italy. On August 1, 1923, the Italian state returned it to the Hungarian government by opening the Hungarian Historical Institute in it. From 1924 to 1927, the Hungarian Historical Institute operated there, which was later integrated into the framework of the Royal Academy of Rome, based in the Falconieri Palace, in accordance with the agreement between the Italian and Hungarian states.
The Fraknói villa functioned as an apartment building for a long time, and then the consulate of the Hungarian Embassy was placed in it.
Diplomatic relations between Hungary and the Vatican State were renewed in 1990, and a year later Cardinal Angelo Sodano inaugurated the Hungarian representation in the Holy See, which began its work with Ambassador Sándor Keresztes. The embassy is currently headed by Eduárd of Habsburg-Lorraine.
A commemorative plaque on the wall of the embassy in Szentszék commemorates the inauguration thirty years ago.
Source: MTI
