Pope John Paul II Stands with a group of Cardinals inside of a Hungarian Cathedral.

Saint John Paul II and Venerable Cardinal József Mindszenty

Saint John Paul II honored Cardinal József Mindszenty with the very first stop on his 1991 Hungarian pilgrimage. After kissing the Hungarian soil and greeting Hungarian dignitaries, he flew by helicopter to Esztergom, where he prayed at the hero’s crypt and celebrated mass.

When he was Archbishop of Krakow, the future John Paul II learned from the heroism of Cardinal Mindszenty, Cardinals Adam Sapieha and Stefan Wyszinski of Poland, Cardinal Iuliu Hossu of Romania, Cardinal Jozef Tomko and Cardinal Josef Beran of Prague to lead Christ’s disciples suffering fascist and communist persecutions. These bishops defended their peoples’ national cultural heritage, cultivated over centuries as Christianity encountered and inspired their people’s historical gifts.

As Pope, John Paul II returned to Cardinal Mindszenty’s legacy to help orient the entire Church, not only Hungarians, to the transcendent truths capable of placing every people and nation into the civilization of love. During the Jubilee 2000, John Paul II addressed the Hungarian nation, As we look at the tormented 20th century, how could we forget the great examples of the late Cardinal József Mindszenty, Blessed Vilmos Apor, Bishop and martyr, and Venerable László Batthyány-Strattmann? It is a history that has unfolded down the centuries with a fertility which it is your duty to increase and to enrich with new fruits in the various fields of human activity.... The history of your homeland is full of splendid lights in both the religious and the civil sphere, arousing the admiration of all who undertake its study. Message to the Hungarian Nation on the first Millennium of St Stephen's coronation (August 21, 2000) | John Paul II

The Saint John Paul II National Shrine is proud to host the “Cardinal Mindszenty Exhibition” produced by the Mindszenty Foundation and the Embassy of Hungary, Washington. May your reflection on this Hungarian hero’s life lead your mind and heart to Christ and to, in our patron’s words, “all that is most deeply human: the sense of belonging to God, the search for truth, the insatiable need for goodness, the burning thirst for love, the hunger for freedom, the longing for the beautiful, the wonder of the new, the soft but commanding voice of conscience.”

Exhibit Photos

Pope John Paul II kneels in prayer before the tomb of Cardinal Mindszenty

A black and white photograph of Cardinal Mindszenty with a man holding a microphone for him.

The Cardinal Mindszenty Exhibit Panels lined up in the ambulatory of the Shrine.

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