06-05-2025
Peter Erdo, church law expert criticised for Orban links
Long touted as a potential successor to Pope Francis, Hungary's conservative Cardinal Peter Erdo is a respected expert on canon law known for his openness towards other religions.
But he has faced criticism for his ties with the government of nationalist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose harsh views on migration clashed with those of the late Argentine pope.
A conservative on issues such as gay marriage, Erdo once told a congregation that "the Church must not get involved with problems of the given moment".
And after Francis's death on April 21, Erdo wrote on X that the Catholic Church "needs (to) stand firm on its doctrines".
If elected, the 72-year-old would become the second pontiff to come from Europe's former Communist bloc after Poland's John Paul II.
In May 2023, during his visit to Hungary, Pope Francis expressed his esteem for Erdo and emphasised the importance of his role in the Church, even if the liberal pontiff and the cardinal did not share the same approach.
Ecclesiastical fast track
Born in 1952 as the first of six children in a Catholic family in Budapest, Erdo has been on the ecclesiastical fast track his entire career.
He studied at the seminary of Esztergom, north of Budapest, and was ordained as a priest in 1975. His parents were fiercely anti-Communist Catholics under a Communist regime that frowned on religion.
After gaining a doctorate in theology, he moved to Rome in 1977 to obtain another doctorate, this time in canon, or church law, before returning to Hungary to teach theology at the Esztergom seminary.
He also lectured at universities around Europe and published numerous articles on canon law.
He became a bishop in 2000, was appointed archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest in 2002 and was created a cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 2003.
Aged just 51, he was Europe's youngest cardinal at the time.
A polyglot who speaks seven languages, Erdo was elected in 2006 as president of the Council of Bishops' Conferences of Europe and reelected in 2011, all when he was still in his 50s.
Known for his enthusiasm for evangelism, as well as his openness towards other religions, particularly the Jewish community in Hungary, he said at a Holocaust commemoration event in 2012 that "anti-Semitism has no place in Christianity".
Erdo has also spearheaded relations with the Orthodox churches and developed "city missions" in Budapest, encouraging lay people to visit homes to urge their neighbours to return to the Church.
His theological expertise has gained him prominence within the Catholic Church worldwide and has been recognised with honorary doctorates from various prestigious universities.
'Servile silence'
But the Hungarian Church's close ties to the government have come under scrutiny in recent years.
Catholic churches and church-run schools have received lavish state funding from nationalist Orban, who describes his government as "Christian conservative".
According to Erdo's critics, the largesse has bought Church silence on Orban's often hardline anti-migrant and anti-poor policies, such as a draconian asylum system and the criminalisation of homelessness.
In 2015, when thousands of asylum seekers were entering Hungary daily, Erdo himself said hosting migrants could legally amount to "human-trafficking".
