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Péter Erdő

From Wikiquote
Péter Erdő in 2011

Péter Erdő (in Hungarian: Erdő Péter; born 1952) is a Hungarian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who has served as the Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest and Primate of Hungary since 2003.

He was president of the Council of the Bishops' Conferences of Europe from 2006 to 2016 and was the relator general for the Third Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in Rome.

Erdő is reputed to have a special Marian devotion to Our Lady of Consolation. He is fluent in Hungarian (his native tongue), English, Italian, French, and Latin. He has also addressed congregations in Slovak in the past. Erdo is seen as a leading conservative candidate in the upcoming 2025 papal conclave.

Quotes

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  • Canon law was my own free choice. While studying at the theological faculty in Budapest, I wrote my doctoral dissertation on the philosophical and theological foundations of canon law in the writings of Nicholas of Cusa. At the end of the 1940s, my father was among the last students at the faculty of civil law to also study canon law. As a seminarian in the first half of the 1970s, I saw first-hand, on the one hand, the discussions on the legitimacy of canon law in the Church and, on the other, the need to clearly consider the legislation in force after the conciliar reforms but before the new Code. I therefore saw the great need for this discipline in the life of the Church.
    • Il diritto canonico è stato una mia libera scelta. Già alla facoltà teologica di Budapest, ho scritto la mia tesi di dottorato sulle basi filosofiche e teologiche del diritto canonico negli scritti di Niccolò Cusano. Mio padre, alla fine degli anni ’40, era tra gli ultimi che alla facoltà di giurisprudenza civile hanno studiato anche il diritto canonico. Come seminarista nella prima metà degli anni ’70 ho visto da vicino, da una parte, le discussioni sulla legittimità del diritto canonico nella Chiesa e, dall’altra, il bisogno di considerare con chiarezza la normativa vigente dopo le riforme conciliari, ma prima del nuovo Codice. Ho visto, quindi, la grande necessità di questa disciplina per la vita della Chiesa.
  • Perhaps, with regard to the reality of spiritual movements in the Church and the world of institutes of consecrated life, with their very broad exemption from the jurisdiction of bishops, there seems to be a certain tension with the great emphasis that the Council placed on particular Churches and on the ministry of bishops. In general, we are witnessing a certain technical change. Many changes are being introduced into the text of the codes and, unlike the legislation of contemporary states, there is still no official website where all the universal legal norms can be found in their updated form. Moreover, even in countries that are not too large or too rich, there is an official bulletin that is published in paper and digital form. With regard to the universal legal norms of the Holy See, the texts are available in real time on the Vatican's homepage, but official promulgation takes place either in L'Osservatore Romano, which is not a specialised organ for legal texts, or in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis, which publishes the texts with considerable delay.
    • Forse, riguardo alla realtà dei movimenti spirituali nella Chiesa e al mondo degli istituti di vita consacrata con la loro larghissima esenzione dalla competenza dei vescovi sembra esserci una certa tensione con il grande accento che il Concilio ha messo sulle Chiese particolari e sul ministero dei vescovi. In generale, assistiamo ad un certo cambiamento tecnico.

Vengono introdotte molte modifiche nel testo dei codici e, a differenza della legislazione degli stati contemporanei, non esiste ancora un sito internet ufficiale dove tutte le norme giuridiche universali possano trovarsi in forma aggiornata. Inoltre, pure nei Paesi non troppo grandi e non troppo ricchi, esiste un bollettino ufficiale che viene pubblicato in forma cartacea e digitale. Riguardo alle norme giuridiche universali della Santa Sede, i testi si trovano in tempo reale sulla homepage del Vaticano, ma la promulgazione ufficiale avviene o sull’Osservatore Romano, che non è un organo specializzato per i testi giuridici, o sugli Acta Apostolicae Sedis, che pubblica i testi con notevole ritardo.

  • Faith is the most important thing in life, and therefore, serving the faith of others, passing on the faith, teaching the faith, and especially ministering at the liturgy, are the greatest things in life. [...] Certainly faith came first; this was not experienced in a tragic way by my parents, but in a natural way, knowing that God is supreme.
  • the encyclical Mit Brennender Sorge, which Pope Pius XI published before the Second World War in 1937, remains fundamental, in which it is made clear that nations as cultural communities with their own language, their own memory, their own structure, their own culture, represent a true value, they belong to the richness of creation, and are therefore dear to the Creator. In several places in the Bible we find that even at the last judgement, the Lord will judge the nations. Peoples too, not just individual persons. Thus, peoples have a certain role in God's grand design. Yet nations do not represent the supreme value. Looking at nations in this way would be idolatry. Therefore, we always seek this balance indicated by papal teaching. And this teaching seems to be current, even in our day.
  • It seems that public and private are not separable in human life, in the life of societies, because decisions, even private ones, can have repercussions for society and vice versa. And then the public space, the streets, the squares, never remain empty. That is, it is not possible for there to be no symbols that express some vision of the world. Even during communism, there were so many statues that expressed the communist world view. And I remember that in Albania, where they banned all the religions, Enver Hoxha, the communist dictator, had a pyramid built in the centre of Tirana for himself so the public space does not remain completely empty. And the Christian symbols, for example the Churches, indicate that many generations have recognised that everyday life is not the supreme horizon, but there is a higher horizon that gives meaning and value to the small things in our lives. Therefore, it is important to think about this reality every now and then, at least at the big festivals.
  • Interviewer: Have you made any Lenten vows this year? Cardinal Erdő: I do not usually make vows, as a vow is a deeply solemn religious act. I would rather use the term “resolution”. Lent is a time of penance and there are three acts of the penitent: fasting, praying and charity. We need all these three very badly.
Interviewer: And have you managed to keep these resolutions? Cardinal Erdő: I never define a sum I want to set aside for charity, therefore it is hard to measure.–
Interviewer: How do you measure it, then? Cardinal Erdő: The point is, it should hurt.
Interviewer: Should it hurt? Cardinal Erdő: Yes. To give and do as much as to feel its weight. It should be an effort, it should be uncomfortable.
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