Life Sacrifice

The “Life Sacrifice – Devictus vincit” room, featuring the Mindszenty Square, is the most prominent section of the exhibition. It presents the 1948 arrest of József Mindszenty, his interrogations, the show trial, and his imprisonment.

The circular layout of the space is intentional: it refers to the Roman church Santo Stefano Rotondo, which was the cardinal’s titular church.

The 8 Years of Calvary: Arrest, Imprisonment, Illness

Mindszenty was arrested on 26 December 1948 and immediately taken to 60 Andrássy Street in Budapest, where he spent 39 days under severe duress, during which attempts were made to force him into giving false confessions.

Show Trial

In the show trial that began on 3 February 1949, Mindszenty was sentenced to life imprisonment, while his six co-defendants also received life sentences or long-term prison terms. After the verdict, he spent years in solitary confinement in one of the Budapest Central Prison’s cells.

In the side room evoking the courtroom, visitors can view a video montage compiled from propaganda photographs, press materials, and audio recordings of the Mindszenty trial. During the days of the show trial, crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City at the call of Pope Pius XII in support of the cardinal and the freedom of the Church. Protests against Mindszenty’s unlawful conviction took place in many other parts of the world as well.

Mindszenty’s full “final statement”, delivered before sentencing in his “right of last word”, will soon be available to read in our Visual Guide.

Prison Years

The other projection of the Mindszenty Square evokes the infamous cell of the Conti Street ÁVH prison. The bench shown is one of the few surviving original items. Due to his worsening health conditions, the cardinal was transferred in 1954 to a prison hospital, and from the summer of 1955 placed under strict house arrest first in Püspökszentlászló (Baranya County), later in Felsőpetény (Nógrád County).

As a result of inhumane conditions and treatment, he lost nearly half of his body weight and developed severe lifelong heart and lung diseases. However, his spiritual life and relationship with God deepened significantly.

The reference to “the two hosts in the cell” relates to a remarkable and unique event that became widely known among Italian and Hungarian Catholic believers only in the early 21st century. When he was forbidden for nine months to celebrate Mass, Padre Pio of Pietrelcina is said to have mysteriously appeared in his cell with liturgical objects, and they celebrated Mass together. This event is symbolized by the two white hosts placed on the cell table.

Recommendation: The Mindszenty Foundation of Hungary organizes guided visits several times a year to the otherwise closed former Conti Street prison in Budapest.

Mindszenty Square

The circular Mindszenty Square is the heart and backbone of the entire exhibition, connecting the first and second-floor displays and the destinies of many persecuted individuals alongside Cardinal Mindszenty.

Curator Gergely Kovács describes the atmosphere of the space as follows:

“The statue of Cardinal Mindszenty looks inward, so it is impossible to meet his gaze. This unique circular space, designed around this world-class sculpture, was the most difficult and most exciting task of seven years of exhibition planning. Our goal was that here we should not only see Cardinal Mindszenty, but feel with him – to emotionally experience what he went through: the deepest depths and greatest heights of his life…”

This space commemorates his “bloodless martyrdom”, which Pope Pius XII had already foreshadowed when he said at his elevation to cardinal:

“Among the 32 [new cardinals], you will be the first who must endure the martyrdom symbolized by the color of the cardinal’s purple.”

Read the cardinal’s personal passion story, accompanied by self-revealing excerpts from his Memoirs placed around the room.

Statue of József Mindszenty

At the center of the space is the plaster model of the life-size statue by sculptor Tibor Rieger, originally placed in front of the church in Máriaremete. In the golden circle of light we can hear an excerpt from the “final word” speech delivered during his show trial, and it can also be read in golden letters on the floor.

Recommendation: Between 27 February and 31 May 2023, the Mindszentyneum plaster statue served as the model for the first marble Mindszenty statue, created for Fatima as part of the Hungarian Calvary commemorating the cardinal and the 1956 Revolution. If you visit Fatima, do not miss it!