Szilárd Bogdánffy

Szilárd Ignác Bogdánffy (21 February 1911 – 3 October 1953) was a Roman Catholic auxiliary bishop of Satu Mare and Oradea of the Latins. On October 30, 2010 he was proclaimed blessed in a ceremony  held in St. Mary's Basilica, Oradea, Romania, being recognized as a martyr of the Communist period.

Biography 

Szilárd Bogdánffy was born on February 21, 1911 in the village of Feketetõ, then part of Torontal district, Austria-Hungary; today called Crna Bara, near the town of Kikinda, district Northern Banat, autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. He lived there with his family until 1925. He was baptized in the parish church of Čoka to which his village belonged and where his father was a cantor.

Study and priesthood 
Bogdánffy went to elementary school in Crna Bara, until 1925 when the Bogdánffy family moved to Timişoara  a city in Eastern part of Banat. There he went to the Piarists high school. After his final exams, he was accepted to the Catholic seminary of the Latin-rite Diocese of Oradea. He was ordained  a priest by the bishop of Oradea Stefan Fiedler on the June 29, 1934. He continued his studies at the University of Budapest, where he earned a PhD in philosophy and dogmatics (with a thesis on “Apocalyptics in the Synoptic Gospels”). Upon his return to Romania he became professor of the Catholic seminary in Oradea and confessor at the Ursuline convent in the city. In 1939 he was followed by the Royal Romanian Secret Services for alleged anti-Romanian activity. During World War II – because he was hiding Jews – he was also interrogated by the  Hungarian Fascist „Nyílás” gendarmes.

Bishop in secret 

After the end of the war, the new Romanian communist leadership started a campaign against Christian (especially against the catholic Christian) religion. As a consequence, the Vatican allowed secret consecration of bishops. Dr. Szilárd Bogdánffy was consecrated as bishop of Oradea of the Latins and auxiliary bishop of Satu Mare on February 14, 1949 by  Gerald Patrick O’Hara, Regent of the Apostolic Nunciature to Bucharest. The new bishop was arrested and imprisoned only two months later. He had previously been approached, on several occasions, by representatives o the regime, with the request that he lead an "independent Romanian Latin-rite Church, with no ties to the Vatican" which he adamantly refused.  Until his death he spent four years as a captive in various prisons throughout Romania, including the evil reputed Capul-Midia camp. He fell seriously ill, being affected by bad conditions and regular tortures. In Aiud Prison, as the Byzantine rite Catholic bishop of Lugoj, Ioan Ploscaru recalled, Bishop Bogdánffy was "humble and serene, always ready to help his fellow sufferers".  Although lying with serious pneumonia, the prison doctor refused him the necessary medication claiming he was not worthy of it. He died in solitary confinement on October 3rd, 1953 in the prison of Aiud, Romania.

Beatification 
His beatification took place on October 30th, 2010, in Oradea. Saint mass with 200 priests, 42 bishops and two cardinals guided and during it preached  Cardinal Péter Erdő, Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, President of the Council of European Bishops' Conferences (CCEE). The same ceremony of beatification was presided by the Cardinal and Archbishop Angelo Amato, President of the Congregation for causes of the Saints. He is the first Catholic martyred during the Communist regime in Romania to be elevated to the honor of the altars.

Bibliography
 Ioan Ploscaru, Lanțuri și teroare, Editura Signata, Timișoara, 1993, pag. 185-189.
 László Böcskei püspök: Imafüzet (Isten Szolgája/Boldog) Bogdánffy Szilárd vértanú püspökhöz, Rómaikatolikus Püspökség Nagyvárad 2010 pages 36.

References

Other websites
 Online-Encyclopedia: Szilárd Bogdánffy 
 magnificat.ro
 Report about new Blessed 
   News: Erdély ma 
  Erdély ma from: 6. IV. 2010 
   Catholic Newspaper: Magyar Kurír
  Catholic Hierarchy

1911 births
1953 deaths
Beatified people
Romanian people
Roman Catholic martyrs