József Cardinal Mindszenty was the Primate, Archbishop of Esztergom, a Cardinal, and leader of the Catholic Church in Hungary from 2 October 1945 to 18 December 1973.
For five decades "he personified uncompromising opposition to fascism and communism in Hungary".
During World War II, he was imprisoned by the pro-Nazi Arrow Cross Party. After the war, he opposed communism and the communist persecution in his country. As a result, he was tortured and given a life sentence in a 1949 show trial that generated worldwide condemnation, including a United Nations resolution.
After eight years in prison, he was freed in the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and granted political asylum by the United States embassy in Budapest, where Mindszenty lived for the next fifteen years. He was finally allowed to leave the country in 1971.
Cardinal Mindszenty died in exile in 1975 in Vienna, Austria. He was honored and revered as a martyr and a hero by generations of the Catholics and all those who cherish freedom.
Now comes Cardinal Joseph Zen, former head of the Church in Hong Kong, who has spearheaded opposition to the Vatican’s rapprochement with China.
On the day following the announcement of the accord, Cardinal Zen called for the Pope’s Secretary of State to step down, saying any deal with Beijing would amount to a betrayal of the Catholic faith.
“They’re giving the flock into the mouths of the wolves. It’s an incredible betrayal,” the Cardinal said.
He described Parolin, the highest ranking diplomat in the Vatican, as someone who despised heroes of faith.
“He should resign,”His Eminence is quoted as telling reporters. I don’t think he has faith. He is just a good diplomat in a very secular, mundane meaning.”
At a time when the Vatican is also under pressure for purportedly covering up a sex abuse scandal in the United States, with one Archbishop even calling for the Pope to resign, Cardinal Zen suggested this China deal would further add to the Church’s vulnerability.
“The consequences will be tragic and long lasting, not only for the church in China but for the whole church because it damages the credibility.”
China’s Catholics are divided between an underground Church that swears loyalty to the Vatican, and the state-supervised Catholic Patriotic Association.
Announcement of the agreement has caused divisions among communities of Catholics across China, some of whom fear greater suppression should the Vatican cede greater control to Beijing, while others want to see rapprochement.
The Cardinal said he believed only half the underground Church in China would accept a deal and was concerned how the remainder might react. He said any deal with atheist China would deal a significant blow to Pope Francis’ credibility.
“It’s a complete surrender. It’s a betrayal of the Church. I have no other words.”
The Vatican did not immediately respond to a request for comment on His Eminence's remarks.
Cardinal Mindszenty must be rolling in his grave!
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