Péter Erdö - Biography#

Péter Erdő, Cardinal Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, was born on the 25th June 1952 in Budapest.

He was ordained on the 18th June 1975 and in 1976 received a doctorate in theology in Budapest. From 1977 to 1980 he studied in Rome, where he obtained a doctorate in canon law at the Utriusque Iuris Institute of the Pontifical Lateran University.

Between 1980 and 1986 he lectured in theology at the Archdiocesan Theological College in Esztergom. From 1986 to 1988 he was a temporary lecturer (professore incaricato) at the Pontifical Gregorian University and from 1988 to 2002 a regular visiting professor (professore invitato). In the meantime from 1988 to 2002 he held the chair of theology at the Theological Academy in Budapest, named after its founder Péter Pázmány, and which from 1993 became the Faculty of Theology at the Péter Pázmány Catholic University. From 1996 to1998 he was also the Dean of the Faculty. From 1998 to 2003 Cardinal Erdő was the Rector of the re-established Péter Pázmány Catholic University of Hungary (established by Cardinal Pázmány in 1635) and from 1996 to 2003 he was also the chairman of the university’s Postgraduate Canon Law Institute.

On the 5th November 1999 Pope John Paul II appointed him titular bishop and auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Székesfehérvár (Alba Regia). Later, on the 6th January 2000, he was ordained bishop in Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome by the Pope. The Holy Father appointed him Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest on the 7th December 2002. At the Consistory held on the 21st October 2003 the Pope elevated him to the rank of Cardinal. On the 5th September 2005 he was elected to be President of the Hungarian Catholic Bishops’ Conference, and later on the 6th October 2006 to be President of the Council of the European Bishops’ Conference (CCEE). Since that time the Hungarian Catholic Bishops’ Conference as well as the CCEE has re-elected him for another five years. Cardinal Erdő is a member of the following papal dicasteries: the Department for Relations with States at the Secretariat of State; the Congregation of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments; the Congregation for Catholic Education; the Apostolic Signatura; the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts; the Pontifical Council for Culture.