The beatification of martyred Suffragan Bishop of Esztergom Zoltan Meszlenyi was announced at a celebratory mass in the Esztergom Basilica, N Hungary, on Saturday."Meszlenyi is the first of the Hungarian victims of Stalinist anti-church persecution to be beatified," Head of the Hungarian Catholic Church Cardinal Peter Erdo, who celebrated the mass, said.
Meszlenyi was assistant to Cardinal Jozsef Mindszenty (1892-1975), the one-time leader of Hungary's Catholic Church.
He took over leadership of the church in 1950, when Mindszenty was in prison.
He preached to the congregation to remain faithful to regime-persecuted Mindszenty.
Meszlenyi was removed from his home at night and taken to a labour camp in Kistarcsa, where he was tortured to death.
The authorities kept his death secret for three years and only allowed his remains to be buried in a ceremony closed to the public 12 years later.
Archbishop Angelo Amato, who is currently Pro-Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, read to the thousands gathered at the Basilica for the occasion a letter from Pope Benedict XVI.
Meszlenyi is the 28th Hungarian to be beatified by the Roman Catholic Church. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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SIC: MTI