William Penn Life, 1991 (26. évfolyam, 2-10. szám)

1991-07-01 / 7. szám

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Tribute to an exile

July 1991, William Penn Life, Page 3

On May 4, 1991, the body of József Cardinal Mindszenty, who withstood imprisonment and torture at the hands of Communists and who died in exile in 1975, was reburied at the Basilica in Esztergom, Hungary. Nearly 16 years after his death, the great former leader of Hungarian Roman Catholics, finally returned home.

The following tribute to Cardinal M indszenty, written by the Most Rev. Donald W. Wuerl, bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, originally appeared in the Pittsburgh Catholic.

"EXILE”

Most Rev. Donald W. Wuerl Bishop of Pittsburgh

"I have loved justice and hated inequity therefore I die in exile!” Over 900 years ago St. Gregory VII, better known by his religious name Hildebrand, uttered these words as he prepared to die in exile. To history Pope Gregory VII is known as a great reformer who had extraordinary wisdom and vision. He struggled to reform clerical life and fought against lay investiture—the process by which the state exercised increasing control over the Church and the gospel message. As if to confirm his final words, the earthly remains of Hildebrand are not buried in St. Peter’s Basilica alongside those of his predecessors and many successors.

In a side chapel at the Cathedral Church of the southern Italian city of Sorento one can find, if you carefully search them out, the remains of Gregory VII. In small lead lettering over the casket under the altar which is his final earthly resting place are these words taken from the letter to the Hebrews: "He loved justice and hated inequity.”

Gregory was one of many. Before him other popes were forced from the chair of St. Peter by political authority. After him came still more heroic people whose names are better recognized such as Thomas a Becket and Thomas More. One is tempted to add to this list, even though he is not canonized, Cardinal József Mindszenty, archbishop of Esztergom and primate of Hungary.

What calls Cardinal Mindszenty to mind is the news that his earthly remains were recently transported to his cathedral church in Hungary where with great public fervor and acclaim he was laid to rest in the primatial church of the land he so loved and served as a priest, bishop, cardinal and martyr.

The story of Cardinal Mindszenty is not unfamiliar to those people who lived and suffered, were imprisoned and died in the nations behind the iron curtain. From the Dalmatian Coast to the Baltic Sea, from

the Berlin Wall to the Ural Mountains, the Church, its members and its leadership were systematically and persistently persecuted, exiled or executed.

In the midst of this persecution, Cardinal Mindszenty stood courageously as a figure of contradiction to a communist regime that denied his God and hated his Church. Mindszenty was a patriot, a pious and clearly devoted man who fearlessly spoke the words of God. For this "crime” he died in exile.

The story of his mock trial and imprisonment under an atheistic regime in the late 40’s, his short-lived liberation during the first efforts at freedom in Hungary that were ground down by the treads of Soviet tanks, and the many years in asylum at the United States Embassy in Budapest are all well known to many.

One event that touched me deeply involved the cardinal’s call to Rome by Pope Paul VI in 1971. It was clear that this holy man who has given his entire life as a sign of contradiction to a regime that denied God would have preferred to bear that lonely witness until he died in the land of his birth. But the Church must move forward. Cardinals, bishops, priests are called to serve the Church and sometimes the needs of the Church are greater than even the glorious witness of martyrdom.

After long and arduous discussion with the authorities in Hungary, Pope Paul VI seemed to have reached an agreement with them that would allow some minimal degree of freedom for the Catholic faithful to exercise their religion. Cardinal Mindszenty remained the bone of contention. Responding to the needs of his Church and the call of his pope, reluctantly but loyally, Mindszenty went to Rome to begin what was to be his final exile.

I was working in Rome in those days. It was the time of the 1971 synod on the ministerial priesthood. At the opening of the synod I was struck by the entrance of Paul VI and Cardinal Mindszenty walking arm in arm. To many observers of the synod, the cardinal’s presence in the midst of this assembly indicated the enduring view of the Church on the nature of the ministerial priesthood and its call to the giving of self to Christ and His Church. As I prepared this column I re-read an article I wrote in 1971 for the L’Osservatore Romano on the ministerial priesthood.

Again I had the opportunity to re-live the vision of this small, physically broken but indomitable man, Cardinal József Mindszenty, as he walked into the Sistine Chapel to greet his brother bishops from lands around the world. He was free but

not entirely as he held onto the arm of Peter in the person of Paul VI as a visible sign of his allegiance, his fidelity, his love and his willingness to sacrifice everything, even self, for the good of God’s Church.

Recent newspaper accounts described the procession that brought the body of Cardinal Mindszenty to the cathedral at Esztergom and reported how tens of thousands of people stood "in a drenching rain” as this prince of a man and giant of a believer was buried. The poet deep down in all of us is tempted to say—in the face of the drenching rain—that even the heavens were brought to tears at the sight of this quiet and simple victory.

Ken Follet in his popular novel The Pillars of the Earth makes a statement worth repeating. It reflects his thoughts as

he returned to the scene of the death of Thomas a Becket at the hands of a different regime that also found God’s Church an annoyance. Follet points out that in a conflict between the Church and the state, between the Church and the crown, the monarch could always prevail by the use of brute force.

"But the cause of St. Thomas proved that such a victory would always be a hollow one. The power of a king is not absolute, after all!” The regime that persecuted, imprisoned and exiled Cardinal Mindszenty is gone. Its power was not absolute after all. And although the man who loved justice and hated inequity died in exile, he did in fact return home. God bless him, his nation and the Church in Hungary!

WPA thanks Bishop for tribute

After Bishop Wuerl’s column appeared in the Pittsburgh Catholic, the William Penn Association sent a letter of thanks signed by National President E. E.

Most Rev. Donald W. Wuerl Bishop, Diocese of Pittsburgh

Your Excellency:

On behalf of the thousands of Hungarian Americans and the many faithful Catholics who are members of our fraternal society, we thank you for your beautiful and moving tribute to Cardinal József Mindszenty which was published in the May 10, 1991, edition of the Pittsburgh Catholic.

Like St. Gregory VII, Cardinal Mindszenty was a man who truly “loved justice and hated inequity.” But, more than that, Cardinal Mindszenty stood as a symbol for all Hungarians both at home and abroad. He served as a light during the dark days of Communist rule and as a guidepost to the one, true source of hope for all oppressed people—Jesus Christ.

Many of us remember his mission to America in 1974 as if it happened yesterday. No Hungarian could listen to him and not ache with love and sorrow for our homeland. His words—even his mere presence—stirred our hearts and bolstered our faith that one day justice would again have a home in the Land of the Magyars. His influence on Hungarians in America, both Catholic and non-Catholic, can never be measured. We all owe him a debt of deepest gratitude for his strong support of Hungarian communities here in America and of our Hungarian Catholic parishes.

As much as he loved justice, Cardinal Mindszenty loved his country and his Church even more. For us, the return of his earthly remains to Hungary placed a period at the end of one of the bleakest chapters in Hungarian history.

His spirit is finally at rest. We who are left behind will continue to live by his example.

Sincerely,

E. E. Vargo National President

For the National Officers, Board of Directors and 70,000 members nationwide of the William Penn Association

WPA Chairman of the Board Joseph P. Army congratulates the Rev. Julian Fuzer on the 50th anniversary of his ordination into the priesthood.

Hungarian priest celebrates 50th anniversary of ordination

DETROIT — The Rev. Julian Fuzer, O.F.M., a friend to many William Penn members in both New Jersey and Michigan, celebrated the 50th anniversary of his ordination into the priesthood with a Mass and banquet June 23 at Holy Cross Church in Detroit.

Father Fuzer was born May 30, 1915, in Hehalom, Hungary. He entered the Franciscan Order in 1933 and was ordained a priest on July 13, 1941.

Assigned to be a priest to Hungarian emigrants and refugees in the United States, Father Fuzer was named pastor of Holy Assumption Church in Roebling, N.J., in 1950. Among his accomplishments there was the opening of Holy Assumption School.

In 1960 he was transferred to the Porciuncula in the Pines retreat house in DeWitt, Mich., where he served as retreat master.

But in 1970 he returned to

New Jersey as pastor of St. Ladislaus Church in New Brunswick. He helped build St. Ladislaus into a model for all Hungarian parishes while serving actively with the Hungarian Civic Association of New Brunswick.

He has lived in Detroit since 1984.

We extend our best wishes to Father Fuzer and thank him for all he has accomplished for the Hungarian community.

Vargo on behalf of the entire Association. Below is the text of this letter. The Bishop acknowledged the Association’s letter with a note of appreciation.