The Eighth Tribe, 1975 (2. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1975-06-01 / 6. szám
Page Four THE EIGHTH TRIBE JUNE, 1975 The cardinal’s birthplace in Mindszent, a village in Vas County to which his ancestors had immigrated four centuries before. was issued for his arrest and in February 1919 he was taken for imprisonment. His detention lasted for three months, and during this short time the communists had undermined the weak revolutionary government and were now in control. In May when he was released, it was on the terms that he not return to the gymnasium, associate with those hostile toward the state, or preach or speak publically. When the government changed hands again in August of 1919, he returned to Zalaegerszeg where he now became charged with the parish. The young priest stayed here for the next quarter of a century. While there, Mindszenty established nine new parish churches, seven parish houses and twelve new schools. They had grown from twenty-five priests to forty-three, and even set up a convent school for the girls of the area. All the amazing progress Mindszenty made soon caught the attention of the bishops and in March 1944 he became Bishop of Veszprém. After the end of World War II, a Nazi regime gained control of the government. Once again Mindszenty let his dislike for the government be known and expected immediate arrest. It came in November 1944, and lasted until April of 1945. Oddly enough, Mindszenty’s “liberators” were the Communists. As an old man put it, “Yes, I was liberated—of my hat and my shoes.” In September 1945 the Holy Father asked him to take over the primateship of Hungary. Putting his trust in the Christians of Hungary, he accepted. From the beginning he knew it would be hard. The Communist philosophy knows no God, no immortal soul. In a nation rooted in its faith, communism has little chance to accomplish its end, so they speak of human rights and freedom of conscience like Western politicians. But the Hungarian people were not to be fooled. Many who had not borne the cross of Christ before were now eager to take it upon themselves. The government seeing this new fervor for religion arising attacked Mindszenty incessantly in the press. This was to last until its culmination in 1948. Bishop Mindszenty’s valiancy was much known in the Vatican, and after obtaining a passport with much difficulty, he was made a Cardinal by Pope Pius XII in Rome, on February 28, 1946. Perhaps the most severe blow came to the Church in June 1948. Complete secularization of the schools was ordered. Of Hungary’s 4,885 schools, 3,148 belonged to the Church. It was the beginning of a generation of young Hungarians who would henceforth be severed from their religious training. The final act against Mindszenty had begun. The attacks and slander became worse — people were ordered to demonstrate in the streets against him. His final arrest came on December 26th, with a charge of treason. In February of the next year, Cardinal Joseph Mindszenty was found guilty in a mock trial and sentenced to life imprisonment. The cardinal’s mother and two sisters: a photograph taken while he was in prison and successfully smuggled into him.
