Will the Catholic Church See a Hungarian Pope?

His Eminence was made a Cardinal by John Paul II, opposes allowing unrepentant adulterers to receive Holy Communion, and is opposed to unlimited immigration. He may be the best we can hope for.

From The European Conservative

By Ildikó Bíró, PhD

Péter Erdő is viewed by many as a scholarly compromise candidate who could bring calm after the quasi-revolutionary leadership of Francis.

Speculation about Pope Francis’ successor has been rife since his death on Easter Monday. One of the most prominent possible candidates for the papacy is Hungarian Cardinal Péter Erdő. The 72-year-old canon lawyer is being touted in the media and by Vatican experts as a ‘compromise’ candidate.

Péter Erdő’s name had already been floated as a potential candidate before the 2013 conclave that elected Cardinal Bergoglio, the future Pope Francis. At the time, however, his election was not a very likely scenario, mainly due to his relatively young age. 

Cardinal Erdő—who also holds the title of Primate of Hungary and has served as Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest since 2003—is regarded as a conservative, who nevertheless maintained a good relationship with Pope Francis. Erdő never openly clashed with the late head of the Catholic Church, unlike other traditionalist church leaders.

The Hungarian cardinal is also recognized as an excellent canon lawyer, who is also a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. As an expert in canon law, Péter Erdő advanced rapidly throughout his career: he became a bishop in his 40s, and a cardinal in 2003, at just 51 years old, making him the youngest member of the College of Cardinals until 2010. 

He is also described as someone who is not a ’charismatic speaker,’ but what was once perhaps a serious disadvantage may now prove to be an advantage should the cardinals wish to elect a pope who brings ’calm’ after the dynamic, quasi-revolutionary leadership of Francis.

Cardinal Erdő also has extensive church leadership and pastoral experience, and is thus able to address conservatives without excessively alienating ’progressives.’

Notably, Erdő has focused on improving the relationship between Catholics and Orthodox churches, which is important because “for the Vatican this is a more important ecumenical goal than unity with Protestant churches,” according to Italian website ItalyStart. The website also highlighted that the Hungarian cardinal could be considered in many ways the successor to the recently canonized John Paul II, and opined:

Erdő is a very Eastern European candidate, in a sense like John Paul II was, with (bad) memories of communism and a cultural proximity to Eastern Europe and Russia. 

This also makes him a rather conservative cardinal in the eyes of many in Western Europe and North America. Erdő opposed for example the idea of ​​divorced and remarried Catholics receiving communion. He believes that the opportunity should be given to celebrate the Tridentine Mass (traditional Mass in Latin), something Pope Francis disagrees with.

According to Vatican expert, and former deputy chief of mission at the Hungarian embassy to the Holy Sea, Márk Aurél Érszegi, Cardinal Péter Erdő’s name always comes up whenever the issue of who would be suitable for papal service is discussed. On the one hand, he is now one of the oldest cardinals, having been appointed by John Paul II in 2003. On the other hand, he is known worldwide for his work in canon law, Érszegi noted in a recent interview. Erdő also played a prominent role in such universal church events as the 2014/2015 Synod of Bishops and the 2021 International Eucharistic Congress in Budapest. According to Érszegi, it may also be noteworthy in the eyes of the other cardinals that Pope Francis visited Budapest twice, and both times Cardinal Péter Erdő was his host, since the late pope came to his diocese.