Péter Erdő

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Styles of Péter Cardinal Erdő


Reference style	His Eminence
Spoken style	Your Eminence
Informal style	Cardinal
See	Esztergom-Budapest

Péter Erdő (born June 25, 1952) is a Hungarian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He currently serves as the Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, and thus Primate of Hungary. He is the President of the Council of Episcopal Conferences of Europe, and is currently the youngest member of the College of Cardinals.

[edit] Biography

Erdő was born in Budapest, the first of the six children of Sándor and Mária (née Kiss) Erdő. He studied at the seminaries of Esztergom and Budapest, and the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome (where he attained a doctorate in both theology and canon law). On June 18, 1975, Erdő was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop László Lékai, and was incardinated in the Archdiocese of Esztergom. He worked as vicar in Dorog, and then continued his studies in Rome from 1977 to 1980. For the next eight years, he taught as a professor of theology and canon law at the Seminary of Esztergom, and held guest lectures at several foreign universities. Erdő served in the Hungarian Episcopal Conference as Secretary of the Commission of Canon Law in 1986, and later as its President in 1999. In 1988 he began teaching theology at the Péter Pázmány Catholic University, serving as rector from 1998 to 2003.

On November 5, 1999, he was appointed an auxiliary bishop of Székesfehérvár and titular bishop of Puppi. He received his episcopal consecration on January 6, 2000, from Pope John Paul II himself, with Archbishops Giovanni Battista Re and Marcello Zago, OMI, acting as co-consecrators. Erdő was named Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest on December 7, 2002, and as such, he received the title of Primate of Hungary. The Cardinal became a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in 2007.

[edit] Cardinal

He was created Cardinal Priest of S. Balbinae by John Paul II in the consistory of October 21, 2003. He has been the youngest cardinal in the Church since his elevation to the Sacred College.

Erdő was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that selected Pope Benedict XVI, and can continue to exercise his right to vote in any future conclave until his 80th birthday on June 25, 2032.

The Cardinal was elected President of the Hungarian Episcopal Conference in September 2005 for a five-year term, and President of the Council of Episcopal Conferences of Europe in October 2006 for the same period of time.