Felsőpaty, Kingdom of Hungary, currently Rábapaty, Hungary — August 12, 1919
Death data:
Bázel, Svájc — September 6, 2003
Denomination:
Roman Catholic
Ecclesiastical status:
diocesan
Diocese / Order:
Veszprém
Ordination level:
priest
Priestly ordination:
Sion, Svájc — June 27, 1943
Biographical data
He was the brother of István Endre Mészáros. He began his high school studies with the Benedictines in Kőszeg, then graduated from the minor seminary in Veszprém in 1937. He then studied theology at the seminaries in Innsbruck (Austria) and Sion (Switzerland), where he was ordained a priest on June 27, 1943. The war prevented him from continuing his doctoral studies. In 1944, he was arrested by the Arrow Cross for helping the persecuted; he was released on April 2, 1945, along with his bishop, József Mindszenty. On April 27, 1948, in the evening hours, agents of the Military-Political Department arrested him on the open street in Veszprém. Following his interrogation, he was handed over to the Soviets. The Soviet Military Tribunal in Baden bei Wien sentenced him, along with Ferenc Harangozó and his associates, to 25 years’ imprisonment to be served in a correctional labor camp. After being held in several Soviet camps, he returned home on November 25, 1955; barred from celebrating Mass in public, he remained under police surveillance in Felsőpaty. In 1948, Pope Pius XII conferred upon him the title of monsignor. He was released in 1955, after which he returned from the Gulag and worked in agriculture, as he refused to report for duty at the bishopric—a decision his bishop accepted. He left the country in 1956 and was stripped of his Hungarian citizenship. Between 1972 and 1975, he served as the second secretary to Cardinal József Mindszenty, accompanying him on numerous pastoral trips. In 1991, in protest against the repatriation of József Mindszenty’s remains, he chained himself to the tomb in Mariacell. The Mindszenty Memorial Church in Veszprém was built with his donation. On May 24, 1996, the Chief Military Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation exonerated him due to lack of evidence of a crime. In 1996, he suffered a stroke; from that point on, he was able to speak and write only very little, and he could hardly walk at all.
Domestic service locations
From
To
Place i
Current name, country i
Church / institution
Position
1943
1944
Fűzfőgyártelep, Kingdom of Hungary
Hungary
assistant pastor
1944
1948
Veszprém, Kingdom of Hungary
Hungary
court chaplain and episcopal archivist
1955
1956
Felsőpaty, Hungary
Rábapaty
off duty
Foreign service locations
From
To
Place
Current name, country
Church / institution
Position
1948
1955
Szovjetunió
in captivity
1957
Bázel, Svájc
pastor
1958
1966
Genf, Svájc
Hungarian pastor
1967
USA
A missionary in the United States is raising funds to build the St. Stephen House in Rome
1967
1970
Svájc
pastor
1970
1971
Washington, DC, USA
pastor, studying English
1972
Findeln, Svájc
hermit
1972
1975
Bécs, Austria
He was the second secretary to Cardinal József Mindszenty and served as an interpreter and secretary on numerous missionary trips, including to Canada and the United States.
1976
1977
Washington DC, USA
helps his brother, pastor
1978
1986
Bázel, Svájc
Szent Klára Kórház
hospital chaplain
1986
2003
Bázel, Svájc
Hildegard-Hospiz
hospital chaplain, then as a patient and later in retirement
Literary activity
A száműzött bíboros szolgálatában. Mindszenty József titkárának napi jegyzetei (1972-1975);
Akit övéi be nem fogadtak. Mindszenty bíboros titkárának visszaemlékezései.
He was the second secretary to Cardinal József Mindszenty and served as an interpreter and secretary on numerous missionary trips, including to Canada and the United States.
