Killed because Christian

“Today a beatification ceremony will be celebrated for the first time before these holy walls. Martyr bishop Zoltán Meszlényi is one of Hungary’s Blessed and Saints. He’s the first victim of Church persecution in Stalinist years to be raised to the altars of the Blessed”. These were the opening remarks of the homily delivered past October 31st by Cardinal Péter Erdö, archbishop of Budapest – Esztergom and Primate of Hungary, during the Mass for the beatification of bishop martyr Zoltán Lajos Meszlényi (1892-1951), officiated in the basilica of Esztergom. The beatification formula was read by the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints and representative of the Holy Father Msgr. Angelo Amato. (Cf. previous news report on SIR Europe n° 74/2009).Heroic witness. “What is the message of bishop Meszlényi and his heritage for us, contemporary Catholics, contemporary Hungarians? What life emerges from his heroic testimony?” asked Cardinal Erdö, referring to the faithfulness of the Servant of God to Christ and to the Church until the moment of death, in spite of the persecutions. “Still today men are being killed across the world for the mere fact of being Christian – the archbishop of Budapest said-. But the followers of Christ often have to endure more trials” like “slander, anti-Church statements, denigration, falsification of historical events, marginalization of the faithful and of Church institutions”. In retracing the life of the Servant of God – student, priest, Episcopal secretary, member of the ecclesial tribunal, treasurer of the diocese, and since 1937 auxiliary bishop of Esztergom – the Primate of Hungary reiterated his faithfulness and his “heroic abnegation to martyrdom”. “Coordinating the maintenance of the diocese’ institutions during World War Two, realizing the many human miseries, remaining beside the priests” without failing to “overlook prayer and study”, were major challenges for bishop Zoltán”. Also at the end of the War his “far-reaching vision enabled him to perceive the depressing image of spiritual decay behind human suffering, and the martyrdom awaiting the Christians.” On December 2 1945, the bishop pronounced the following words, conveyed by Cardinal Erdö: “Our people, once spiritually sane, now lies in such moral abyss that if the merciful God will not have mercy of us” we “shall truly despair of our future”. The martyrs, source of hope. “The teaching of bishop Meszlényi – said the Hungarian primate – bears special topical significance. Egoism, myopia, yearning for power and hatred “still today lead us into in a trap our sole forces are not capable of liberating us from”. It is an external collapse that “goes hand in hand with human behaviour. We are called to face not only the consequences of impersonal world economy. We, some more and some less, are responsible for our own problems as well”. “And often those who are the least responsible for the ruin suffer the most”. However, the prelate remarked, “The spiritual problem is perhaps even worse”. “Desperation, the sense of the lack of meaning, along with bitterness and resentment” are felt by an increasing number of people. “From this infernal circle – he warns – only the merciful love of God can save us. The exceptional witnesses of the love of God are those men who are willing to sacrifice their own lives for His love, looking forward to eternal life. The faith of the martyrs is a source of hope for us”. A feast of reconciliation. In a 1950 report regarding bishop Meszlényi, an agent of the regime admitted it was impossible to avail himself of the bishop’s cooperation “since he presents no trace of opportunism”. The Servant of God was deported on June 29 that very same year and “kept in inhuman conditions”, without the medicines he needed, in solitary confinement “until he died in a prison cell”. While “the purpose of the regime was to bend the Church, frighten her with harsh persecution” and “destroy the bishop Meszlényi, indeed, these acts strengthened his martyrdom and witness of Christian faith”, said Card. Erdö,. For a long time “his quietus was marked by deathly hush and was disclosed only three years later”, but it took twelve years to bury him in the crypt of the basilica. May the beatification of bishop Meszlényi “be the great feast of reconciliation also for us! May the wounds of our past, to the light of mercy, be not a source of bitterness or discord, and may they pave the way to understanding and peace”, is the final hope of the Primate of Hungary.