Hungarian Heritage Review, 1985 (14. évfolyam, 12. szám)
1985-12-01 / 12. szám
4 HUNGARIAN HERITAGE REVIEW DECEMBER 1985 Ipfe (3ft jggjfr l5f ts i CT > PAUL PULITZER (ISf Saint Stephen of Hungary Cardinal Mindszenty Christmas! The time to think of others instead of ourselves. The time for prayers, for family get-togethers, and for the giving of gifts in token of our love and affection. But for Hungarians, in particular, it is also a time when they cannot help thinking about “Otthon” and about some of the events which makes this month of December so significant in the history of Hungary and of the Hungarian people. While Christmas commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, the Founder of Christianity, for Hungarians throughout the Free World December 25th also marks the day, in 1000 A.D., when Saint Stephen became the Apostolic King of Hungary and was crowned with the “Holy Crown of Hungary”. The first Christian King of Hungary, this “King by the Grace of God”, converted his realm into a Christian Nation which lasted until another Christmas Day — Christmas Day 1944 when, after a terrible siege longer than the Battle of Stalingrad, Budapest was forced to surrender to the Russians and Hungary became a “Captive Nation” of the Soviets. But Christmas Day 1944 was preluded by a previous one. For, on Christmas Day 1916, Charles IV, the last Christian King of Hungary, was crowned with the “Holy Crown of Hungary”. Swearing to defend Hungary “against all enemies” in a traditional ceremony, his oath was meaningless. During his short reign, Hungary lost Kolozsvár and Pozsony and her enemies began sharpening their knives for the dismemberment of the Nation. When this occured, the fate of Hungary was sealed. The finishing touches to Hungary as a Christian Nation occurred on December 26, 1948, when the heroic Primate of Hungary, Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty, was placed under arrest by the Rákosi regime, tortured, brain-washed, and showtrialed. With his martyrdom, Hungary’s emergence in 1000 A.D. as one of the first Christian Nations in East Central Europe came to a tragic end. What Cardinal Mindszenty said in his last public statement before he was silenced, is something to recall and to remember this month. “The country is condemned to silence and public opinion is made a mere frivolous jest. Democratic freedom of speech in this country means that any opinion that differs from the official one is silenced. I stand for God, for the Church, and for Hungary. This responsibility has been imposed upon me by the fate of the nation which stands alone, an orphan in the whole world. Compared with the sufferings of my people, my own fate is of no importance.”
