48 GERALD P. FOGARTY
consider the situation of the Church in Communist countries.
Both sought to normalize the situation of the Church in those
countries in order to allow the appointment of bishops to vacant
dioceses and the faithful’s ability to worship without persecution.
A prime example of Paul VI’s policy in this regard was the
exit of Cardinal Mindszenty from his refuge in the U.S. embassy
in Budapest, where he had resided since 1956. The cardinal re-
mained the archbishop of Esztergom and primate of Hungary. By
1970, the United States and the Holy See had the same problem
with the cardinal, but from different points of view. The Holy See
wished to regularize the situation of the Hungarian Church and
establish a modus vivendi with the government. The United States
wanted to remove one obstacle toward establishing more cordial
relations with this satellite of the Soviet Union.
After much cajoling, Mindszenty was quietly driven to Vien-
na, from which he flew to Rome on September 19, 1971. Part of
the agreement that he made with the Vatican was that he would
retain the title of archbishop of Esztergom. Initially, he was lau-
datory at the pope’s reception of him and the accommodations
that he was given. Ultimately, however, Paul VI stripped him of
his title and appointed Lászlo Lékái to replace him as archbish-
op. The pope soon named Lékái a cardinal, and Mindszenty left
Rome to live in Vienna, where he published his memoirs, which
included a condemnation of Paul VI. He died in Vienna in 1975.52
On January 6, 1978, President Jimmy Carter, amid some op-
position—including that of Senator Robert Dole—returned the
Crown of St. Stephen to the people of Hungary. A symbol of Hun-
garian sovereignty, the crown had been kept at Fort Knox for
thirty-two years. Carter’s reasoning was that, while the Hungar-
ian government was not perfect in regard to granting rights, it
had improved. To encourage further progress, the administration
decided to return the crown to Hungary. Secretary of State Cyrus
- Hebblethwaite, Paul VI, 579–82, 685.