Venerable Mindszenty and the battle for the Church under Communism

For as long as there has been a Church, Church leaders have often found themselves at odds with government leaders. The argument may be over domestic goals, foreign wars, influence peddling, heresies, or inconvenient moral teachings. A pope or bishop might be facing down emperors or kings, tribal chiefs or feudal lords, bureaucrats or autocrats, elected officials or totalitarian despots. Whatever the details, the root cause is generally the same: rulers naturally want to maintain control over the people they govern, and they often think that their job would be easier if they could control religion, such as the Catholic Church, as well.

In the Church’s conflict with communism and socialism,¹ that tension is exacerbated by the incompatibility of communist goals with Catholic teaching.² Communist leaders, of course, know that the Catholic Church is not their friend. So, when communist governments take control, one of their first steps is usually to try to silence the Church’s shepherds.

During the period of Soviet control of eastern Europe, many bishops, along with priests and the laity, were threatened, imprisoned, tortured, exiled, and executed. The Church now recognizes the holiness of martyred bishops under communism from Albania,³ Bulgaria,⁴ Croatia,⁵ Lithuania,⁶ Poland,⁷ Romania,⁸ Russia,⁹ Slovakia,¹⁰ and Ukraine.¹¹ And then there’s Hungary.

Venerable Servant of God József Mindszenty (1892-1975) was born in a village in western Hungary. He was educated in Catholic schools and was ordained a Catholic priest at the age of twenty-three during World War I. A few years later, a socialist government took control of Hungary. József, who was a well-educated and articulate man, had already taken the time to study the teachings of communism and fascism, so he explained to his people what was wrong with both. That landed him in prison more than once.

Before and during World War II, Hungary’s geography placed it between the Scylla of German fascism to the west and the Charybdis of Russian communism to the east. As fascist influence increased in Hungary, some Hungarians even changed their last names to German names. Characteristically, József did the opposite. Since he had been born with the German last name of Pehm, he instead changed his name to Mindszenty, honoring his Hungarian birthplace and heritage.

But József was, at heart, a priest. Although he was certainly aware of the political developments in his country, he focused his energies on strengthening the faith, family life, and education of his people. During decades of political unrest, poverty, and war, he was a strong leader for his people and protector of the needy. After almost thirty years in the priesthood, the Hungarian bishops recognized his leadership, and he was named bishop of Veszprém in early 1944.

As World War II drew to a close, the Nazis lost territory, and the Soviets took it over. The kingdom of Hungary, which had lasted for almost a thousand years, fell. This was a great blow to József since he loved Hungarian culture and his people.

As is typical in communist states, repressive laws gradually became extremely repressive. As the government’s control over Church property, public and private speech, and every aspect of life increased, József was arrested, although he was later released. During this period, he was also made primate of Hungary, archbishop of Esztergom, and a cardinal.

In 1948, the communist leaders arrested him and other Hungarian bishops on ridiculous charges. Of course, all these Church leaders were tortured and threatened, and the verdict was already determined before the trials started. József was sentenced to life imprisonment, which ended in 1956 during the Hungarian revolution. József escaped to the American embassy during the confusion, but Soviets swiftly crushed this uprising with tanks and troops within a few weeks, killing thousands of people. József then remained inside the embassy walls, in voluntary confinement, for fifteen years.

In 1971, József finally agreed to leave his beloved Hungary during political negotiations between the Church and the Hungarian government and out of obedience to the pope. József refused to voluntarily step down as archbishop and primate, but the pope eventually declared him retired from these positions as part of the Vatican’s program to normalize relations between the Church and eastern European governments. József lived in exile in Vienna, Austria, during his final years and had just returned from an international trip to meet with Hungarian emigrants before his death at the age of eighty-three on May 6, 1975.

But in exile, he wrote his Memoirs. His detailed, eyewitness account, first published in 1974, provides valuable historical insights into Hungarian life during the twentieth century.

However, his Memoirs reveal much more about Mindszenty, the man. József was a rational, intelligent man who understood his opponents’ arguments and their weaknesses. Communist leaders would find it difficult to argue with him.

So they didn’t try. The Memoirs described the humiliating torments and psychological sufferings inflicted upon him when he was imprisoned prior to his 1949 trial. His captors wanted to make him admit guilt for their made-up crimes and sign the statements they had prepared. They therefore beat him daily, deprived him of sleep, and even threatened to bring his mother to the prison so she could watch him being chased and beaten, naked, around the room. He was also afraid of being drugged, so he often refused to eat, which did not help his body withstand their mistreatment. Eventually, József did break down and sign their documents, although it was clear to the world that he and the other accused clergy were innocent of any of their supposed crimes. And as soon as they stopped beating him and depriving him of sleep, he renounced his admission of guilt. But at that point, he was in prison and isolated from the world.

The years he spent in prison may have been relatively free of torture, but he was kept in solitary confinement for most of that time, unable to speak to anyone, even other prisoners, for years. Even the time spent in the American embassy, when he was not in fear for his life, were years spent locked inside, away from the people he had promised to serve.

The problem of how local Church leaders should deal with the repressive, brutal practices of communism and its leaders has not gone away. The leaders of the twentieth century Polish Church, such as Blessed Stefan Wyszyński and Saint John Paul II, have been pointed out as models for their creative attempts to maintain negotiations with communist leaders while at the same time demanding their rights as Catholics. In comparison, József Mindszenty’s lack of flexibility in dealing with communist leaders meant that the Hungarian Church was left leaderless for decades while he was imprisoned and confined. But the culture, history, people, and challenges of each eastern European nation were and are different. There are no easy answers to finding a Christlike way to deal with an economic philosophy and form of government that shows little or no remorse over causing the deaths of millions of its own citizens.¹²

There are some words one would never use to describe József Mindszenty. Words like timid or cowardly. He did not easily back down from a fight, and stubbornness may have been his greatest weakness. However, it must be noted that he fought these battles not for József Mindszenty, but for Jesus Christ, His Church, and the Hungarian people.

His Memoirs show us a brave Catholic bishop who, with all his own strengths and weaknesses, was faithful to his priesthood despite overwhelming obstacles, never stopped trusting in God’s providence, and was willing to lay down his life for his people for the cause of truth and justice. And for those reasons, one can hope he will someday be recognized as more than Venerable Servant of God József Mindszenty.

Related at CWR:
• “Cardinal Mindszenty’s Memoirs are ‘deeply informative, moving, and spiritually and politically instructive'” (Mar 2, 2023) by Paul Senz
• “Cardinal Mindszenty and the recovery of heroic Christian virtue” (Oct 14, 2022) by Daniel J. Mahoney

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