At titular church, Hungarian Cardinal Erdö says church must focus on mission

Hungarian Cardinal Péter Erdö, 72, archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, blesses the faithful as he processes out of Mass at his church of Santa Maria Nuova, also known as the Basilica of Santa Francesca Romana, in the Roman Forum May 4, 2025. (OSV News photo/Michael R. Heinlein)

ROME (OSV News) -- Three days ahead of the start of the conclave, the cardinals took the morning off from the general congregation meetings and, in some cases, celebrated Masses at their titular churches -- or the churches that have been designated to them to connect them with the pope and the Diocese of Rome.

Hungarian Cardinal Péter Erdö, 72, archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, celebrated Mass at his church of Santa Maria Nuova, also known as the Basilica of Santa Francesca Romana, in the Roman Forum. The church contains the tomb of St. Frances of Rome, a widow and religious foundress once credited with saving the city of Rome, and whose intercession is often sought in times of hardship.

At the Mass, several papal prerequisites seemed met by Cardinal Erdö, who demonstrated great ease with Italian and offered a brief but relevant homily, in which he stressed collegiality and mission.

Cardinal Erdö stressed that today the church must first address the question of its own mission. Tradition makes alive and gives testimony to the essentials of faith, he said, as a means of connecting us to the Lord Jesus who gives us our mission and gives us a share in it.

Recalling an apocryphal quote from Gustav Mahler, first director of the Budapest opera, Cardinal Erdö spoke of tradition as "not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire." Exhorting prayer for whomever the conclave will elect, the cardinal said the new pope will have to fulfill his mission in a dramatic phase for the history of humanity, adding that present humanity needs Christ, but also us if we belong to Christ.

Ahead of the Mass, there was buzzing in the church, as people were wondering the same question: Could he be the next pope? Many members of the media, including The New York Times and CNN, also were present. (See more news regarding the upcoming conclave)

Though he avoided the press as he departed the church, Cardinal Erdö did pause to bless a young child before his car departed. The Hungarian cardinal is widely regarded as a serious contender for the papacy, and is perhaps the most seriously considered among the few cardinals added to the College of Cardinals by St. John Paul II who remain eligible to vote in the conclave.

Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest and primate of Hungary since 2003, Cardinal Erdö served as general relator at the twin synods of bishops on the family in 2014 and 2015. With double doctorates in theology and canon law, Cardinal Erdö also served as professor and administrator in seminaries for over two decades, until his appointment as bishop in 1999. From 2006 to 2016, Cardinal Erdö served as president of the Council of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe and hosted the 2021 International Eucharistic Congress in Budapest.

Cardinal Erdö enters the conclave this week amid unconfirmed rumors that he and his supporters have brokered a deal among cardinals to secure the election of Cardinal Pietro Parolin, a highly speculated frontrunner who served as secretary of state under Pope Francis, in exchange for the reversal of certain controversial hallmarks of Pope Francis’ pontificate.

Following the Mass, Hungary's ambassador to the Holy See, Eduard Habsburg-Lothringen, also present at the Mass, shared on social media that the cardinal had told him directly: "Any speculation of a pre-conclave deal between Hungarian Cardinal Péter Erdö and former Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin is totally false. Cardinal Erdö has engaged in no such discussions."