PÁZMÁNY, PETER. – Cardinal, theologian, and controversialist, restorer of Catholicism in Hungary, b. at Nagyvárad (Gran Varadino) on 4 October 1570, d. at Poszony (Presburgo) on 19 March 1637.
Educated in Calvinist heresy by his father, vice-regent of Bihar, he abjured it at the age of 13 (1584) at the Jesuit college in Kolozvar, under the influence of the first Hungarian Jesuit, S. Szantó, and at 17 (1587) entered the Order at Cracow. Having completed his philosophical studies at Vienna, he went to the Collegio Romano for theology (1593). In 1597 he was assigned to Graz as professor of philosophy; in 1601 he returned to Hungary as a preacher; two years later he returned to Graz as professor of theology for five years, there becoming a skilled and formidable polemicist through his study of Bellarmino’s works; in 1607 he was summoned by the cardinal archbishop of Strigonia as adviser and collaborator, thus opening the way for broader and more effective action against the «reformation». P. gave his adversaries no respite and became their terror, since no one dared invite him to a disputation or accept his challenge. He wished to add writings to his spoken word, publishing various works in classical Hungarian style. As early as 1603 he had composed a Reply to the book of Stefano Magyari, preacher of Saruár, on the cause of Hungary’s decline, in which he blamed the «papists»; in 1604 he translated the Imitation of Christ into Hungarian; in 1605
he published Ten Demonstrations on the Falsehoods of Present-Day Learning; in 1606 a prayer book, still in use today; in 1609 Five Letters to Peter Alvinney; but the work that struck heresy at the heart, demonstrating its lack of scientific foundation, was the Hodogus. Guide to Divine Truth (15 vols., Presburgo 1613), in which his polemical writings (about 40 works) are collected: the most splendid Hungarian apology for the clarity of its form and the effectiveness of its argument. Returning in 1616 from Rome, where he had been sent over the question of the college of Nagy-Szombat (Tyrnau), he passed to the Somaschi Congregation, without, however, taking vows there, by the Pope’s will and with the consent of his superiors, so that he, a professed Jesuit, would not be appointed to the ecclesiastical dignity to which he had been obliged to renounce his claim. In fact, he always considered himself a member of the Society of Jesus and maintained its manner of life, regarding his transfer to the Somaschi as a purely formal matter. He was thus immediately promoted (24 November 1616) to archbishop of Strigonia and primate of Hungary, and in 1629 was elected cardinal.
P. used his new dignity to consolidate and deepen, with energy and abundant resources, the restoration of the Catholic faith. From 1629 he held a diocesan synod every year; and during his episcopate he convened two national synods. The publication of the Diocesan Synod of 1629, to which he added fundamental dissertations on the privileges of his Church and on the monastic Orders, earned him the distinction of being the father of historical criticism of the Hungarian Church (cf. K. Peterfi, Sacra concilia ecclesiastica... in regno Hungariae, 2 vols., Vienna 1742). His zeal was also directed toward founding institutions for youth and the clergy. In addition to freely supporting the Collegio Germanico Ungarico of Rome, in 1624 he opened the Pázmaneum college in Vienna, still flourishing today; in 1631 the first permanent Seminary, and in 1635 the University of Nagy-Szombat (Tyrnau), entrusting all three institutions to the Jesuits. At first the University had only a Faculty of Theology and Philosophy; later it was enlarged by Faculties of Law and Medicine through the efforts of Empress Maria Teresa, who transferred it to Buda in 1777; Joseph II moved it to Pest in 1783.
P. also served religion and his homeland through political influence, remaining faithful to the Habsburgs, in whom he saw the sole earthly bulwark of the Catholic faith, and neutralizing the Sultan’s offers, by which he promised the country autonomy in exchange for taking possession of II. He was also sent to Rome (1632) by Emperor Ferdinando II to counterbalance Richelieu’s influence and dissuade the King of France from allying himself with the Swedes. Although he did not achieve everything, he did obtain from Urban VIII promises of aid for the Emperor (cf. A. Mednyánszky, Legatio Romana, Pest 1830). Moreover, the Habsburgs owe P. both the consolidation and perhaps even the preservation of the throne of Hungary; for if he had not stemmed the invasion of the Protestants into Hungary, wresting the noble and powerful families from heresy, the dynasty could not have maintained itself there. It was said of P. that, born in a Protestant Hungary, he died in a Catholic Hungary. The University of Budapest and the Association of Catholic Writers were dedicated to his name.
Stefano Markus-Celestino Testore