1884–1945
○ Natural death
Benedictine cardinal who led the Hungarian Catholic Church as Archbishop of Esztergom and Prince Primate in 1927–1945
Born Szapucsek György into a roofer’s family of Slovak origin at Deáki, now in Slovakia, he joined the Benedictines at Pannonhalma in 1901 and was ordained in 1908. In 1927 Pius XI appointed him Archbishop of Esztergom and made him a cardinal, and as Prince Primate he sat in the upper house of parliament in his own right. After the German invasion of Poland in 1939 he organised Church aid for the Polish refugees in Hungary. In spring 1944 he sought to have Catholic converts exempted from deportation but won the exemption only for priests, monks and nuns; he made no public condemnation of the deportations and on 29 June decided against issuing a pastoral letter. He regarded Szálasi’s inauguration as “Leader of the Nation” as illegal and refused to attend his oath-taking, and died in an air-raid shelter in Esztergom in March 1945.
Activities and affiliations
- 1927–1945 Religion
- 1927–1945 Legislature and state representation · Hungary
Career Timeline
- 1901Joined the Benedictines at Pannonhalma
- 1908Ordained priest
- 1910년대–1927Professor at Sant’Anselmo, Rome; procurator general of the order
- 1927–1945Archbishop of Esztergom, Prince Primate, cardinal
- 1944Sought exemption for converts; decided against a pastoral letter
Related historical events
- 1938–1944.03Hungary on the Axis side: from the Vienna Awards to the DonPrince PrimateAt the end of January 1943, with Bethlen and the chief justice, advised Horthy to withdraw from the Eastern Front and punish those responsible for Novi Sad.
- 1944.03–1945.02Hungary under German occupation: from Operation Margarethe to the siege of BudapestPrince PrimateSought exemptions for converts and criticised the deportations, but withheld his pastoral letter at the end of June on Sztójay’s promise.