His Eminence

Péter Erdő
Erdő at St. Stephen's Basilica, Budapest
ProvinceEsztergom-Budapest
SeeEsztergom-Budapest
Appointed7 December 2002
Installed11 January 2003
PredecessorLászló Paskai, O.F.M.
Other post(s)Cardinal-Priest of S. Maria Nuova
Orders
Ordination18 June 1975
by László Lékai
Consecration5 November 1999
by Pope John Paul II
Created cardinal21 October 2003
by Pope John Paul II
RankCardinal-Priest
Personal details
Born
Péter Erdő

(1952-06-25) 25 June 1952
Budapest, Hungary
NationalityHungarian
DenominationCatholic Church
Previous post(s)
MottoInitio non erat nisi gratia
Coat of armsPéter Erdő's coat of arms
Styles of
Péter Erdő
Reference styleHis Eminence
Spoken styleYour Eminence
Informal styleCardinal
SeeEsztergom-Budapest
Erdő in 2013

Péter Erdő (Hungarian: Erdő Péter, pronounced [ˈɛrdøː ˈpeːtɛr]; born 25 June 1952) is a Hungarian cardinal of the Catholic Church who has served as the Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest and Primate of Hungary since 2003.

He was president of the Council of the Bishops' Conferences of Europe from 2006 to 2016 and was the relator general for the Third Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in Rome.

Erdő is reputed to have a special Marian devotion to Our Lady of Consolation. He is fluent in English, Italian, French, Latin and Hungarian, his native language. He also addressed the faithful in fluent Slovak language in the past.[1]

Biography

An image of Our Lady of Consolation holding the Child Jesus

Erdő was born in Budapest on 25 June 1952,[2] the first of the six children of Sándor and Mária (née Kiss) Erdő. He studied at the seminaries of Esztergom and Budapest, and the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome (where he attained a doctorate in both theology and canon law). On 18 June 1975, Erdő was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop László Lékai, and was incardinated in the Archdiocese of Esztergom.[2] He worked as parochial vicar in Dorog, and then continued his studies in Rome from 1977 to 1980. For the next eight years, he taught as a professor of theology and canon law at the Seminary of Esztergom, and held guest lectures at several foreign universities. Erdő served in the Hungarian Episcopal Conference as Secretary of the Commission of Canon Law in 1986, and later as its president in 1999. In 1988 he began teaching theology at the Pázmány Péter Catholic University, serving as rector from 1998 to 2003. From 2005 he is the Great Chancellor of the university.

On 5 November 1999, he was appointed an auxiliary bishop of Székesfehérvár and titular bishop of Puppi.[2] He received his episcopal consecration on 6 January 2000 from Pope John Paul II with Archbishops Giovanni Battista Re and Marcello Zago, OMI, acting as co-consecrators. Erdő was named Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest on 7 December 2002 which carries the title of Primate of Hungary.[2] Erdő became a corresponding member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in 2007 and a full member in 2013.[3] In 2011, he was given an honorary doctorate by the University of Navarra (Spain).

Cardinal

He was created Cardinal-Priest of Santa Balbina by John Paul II in the consistory of 21 October 2003. He was the youngest member of the Sacred College until the appointment of Reinhard Marx in 2010.

Erdő was elected to a five-year term as president of the Hungarian Episcopal Conference in September 2005 and to a five-year term as president of the Council of Episcopal Conferences of Europe in October 2006. On 17 January 2009 he was appointed a member of the Pontifical Council for Culture by Pope Benedict,[4] and on 29 January 2011 of the Secretariat of State (Second Section).[5]

Erdő sponsored the Thirteenth International Congress of Medieval Canon Law in Esztergom, 3–9 August 2008. On 19 October 2011, the apostolic nunciature in Peru announced that he would undertake an apostolic visitation to intervene in the dispute between the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru and Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne, Archbishop of Lima.[6]

On 18 September 2012, Erdő was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI to be one of the Synod Fathers for the upcoming October 2012 Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization.[7]

On 14 October 2013, Erdő was named by Pope Francis to serve as the Relator General of the Third Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which took place from 5 to 19 October 2014. The chosen theme is "The challenges of the family in the context of evangelization".[8] He resumed his appointment as Relator General when the Synod reconvened in October 2015.[9] In the 2015 book The Rigging of a Synod?, Vatican correspondent Edward Pentin claimed that Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri had pressured Erdő to soften the wording of his 2014 address to the Synod.[10] In 2015, Erdő's second address to the synod was described by journalists, such as Damian Thompson of The Spectator and John L. Allen Jr. of the Boston Globe, as more theologically conservative in its tone.[10][11]

As cardinal elector, Erdő participated of papal conclave 2005 and papal conclave 2013, which elected Benedict XVI and Francis. He has been mentioned as a possible candidate to be elected as the next Pope as of 2022.,[12] and will be entitled to participate in the next conclaves until 2032, his 80th birthday. Specially in 2013, he had been mentioned as a possible candidate to be elected pope.[13]

In March 2023, his titular church was changed to Santa Maria Nuova after his previous titular church, Santa Balbina, was closed because of structural deterioration.[14]

Views

Cardinal Mindszenty

Erdő requested that the Hungarian Chief Prosecutor's Office legally, morally, and politically rehabilitate Cardinal József Mindszenty, his predecessor, who fought Hungary's Communist regime and was arrested by the country's Stalinist dictatorship, after which he sought refuge in the American embassy in Budapest. The Chief Prosecutor's Office ultimately rehabilitated Mindszenty in 2012 thanks to Erdő's intervention.[15] In 2006, he sent a letter of gratitude to U.S. President George W. Bush on the 50th anniversary of Cardinal Mindszenty's forced arrest because of the political support that Americans had given to Mindszenty at the time.[16]

Divorced and remarried Catholics

During a Vatican press conference in October 2014, Erdő expressed opposition to the idea of allowing divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Holy Communion.[17]

Migrants

During the 2015 European migrant crisis, Erdő said that taking in refugees would amount to human trafficking.[18][19]

Romani people

Erdő has written about the special socio-economic conditions of the Romani people and has openly wondered on the correct way to evangelize them.[20]

Church in Hungary

Erdő has focused on Hungary's need to restore its faith and hope, while celebrating Midnight Mass at St. Stephen's Basilica in Budapest, to mark the Christmas holiday.[21]

References

  1. ↑ "Oslávili 400. výročie smrti mučeníkov". Katolícke noviny (in Slovak). 9 September 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Bio". catholic-hierarchy.com. Retrieved 19 March 2010.
  3. ↑ "Members" (in Hungarian). Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Archived from the original on 19 May 2008. Retrieved 19 March 2010.
  4. ↑ "NOMINA DI MEMBRI E DI CONSULTORI DEL PONTIFICIO CONSIGLIO DELLA CULTURA". Retrieved 19 March 2010.
  5. ↑ "Rinunce e Nomine".
  6. ↑ "Everything is set for apostolic visit to Peru's "rebel university"". La Stampa. 30 November 2011. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  7. ↑
  8. ↑ "RINUNCE E NOMINE". vatican.va.
  9. ↑ "Synod15 – 1ª Congregazione Generale: Relazione introduttiva del Relatore Generale, Card. Péter Erdő".
  10. 1 2 "The Vatican 'Family synod' and the sex abuse scandal that could engulf Pope Francis". The Spectator. October 2015. Archived from the original on 9 October 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  11. ↑ Allen Jr., John L. (5 October 2015). "On Day One of Synod 2015, conservatives strike first". Crux.
  12. ↑ "Will it be a Hungarian Pope?". Catholic Herald. 28 June 2022.
  13. ↑ Andrew Brown: How will the next pope be chosen? Archived 27 September 2016 at the Wayback Machine The Guardian, 5 March 2013
  14. ↑ "Ferenc pápa új címtemplomot jelölt ki Erdő Péter bíboros számára". Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Esztergom–Budapest. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  15. ↑ "Chief Prosecutor's Office fully rehabilitates exiled Cardinal Mindszenty". Politics.hu. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  16. ↑ "Letter of Cardinal Erdő to George W. Bush". cardinalrating.com. Archived from the original on 17 March 2008.
  17. ↑ ""Remarried divorcees belong to the Church," says Synod's Relator". La Stampa. 6 October 2014.
  18. ↑ Frayer, Lauren (30 September 2015). "Hungary's Catholics Largely Absent From Refugee Drama". National Public Radio.
  19. ↑ Koranyi, Balazs (5 September 2015). "A nation divided: Hungarians loathe and help refugees". Reuters.
  20. ↑ "Pastorale des tziganes : quelle attitude adopter ?". cardinalrating.com. Archived from the original on 6 October 2008.
  21. ↑ "Nation needs restoration of faith and love, says Cardinal". cardinalrating.com. Archived from the original on 7 September 2008.
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