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 GRAN

722

ORAN

creased, so that it was reduced to one hundred at the beginning of the seventeenth century. Under the great Peter Pazmany, the zealous opponent of Protes- tantism, conditions were improved, and after his death there were 1S5 parishes. To-day the number is given as 480, and the total number of clergy in the archdio- cese 92.3, of whom 729 are occupied with the cure of souls. There are 5 seminaries for the training of priests, the central seminary at Budapest, that of Gran, the Pazmaneum at Vienna, and the preparatory seminaries at Presburg and Tyrnau. There is also an archiepiscopal gymnasium connected with the Tyrnau seminary. The students number about 2(32. There are in the archdiocese 134 religious houses of men and women, whose members number collectively 2487. In the three vicariates of the archdiocese (1909) there are 1,480,531 Catholics, and 1,057,282 members of other creeds. The already existing See of Gran was raised to met-

On account of the part played by its archbishops, the history of the Archdiocese of Gran is closely con- nected with that of Hungary. Up to the sixteenth century the archbishop resided at Gran, but when the Turks overran Hungary after the battle of Mohc-lcs, in which the primate, Ladislaus Szdlkiln (1524-26), was slain, Paul Vardai (1527-49) removed the seat to Pres- burg, and when Gran also fell into the hands of the Turks, to Tyrnau, which remained the seat of the archdiocese until 1820. This period is one of the sad- dest epochs in the history of the see. Ecclesiastical discipline became relaxed, and notwithstanding the efforts of Nikolaus Olah (1553-68), Protestantism gained more and more territory. After the death of Anton Veranotius (1569-73), the episcopal see re- mained vacant for twenty-three years. It was the greatest of all the archbishops of Gran, Peter Paz- many ( 1616-37), who stemmed the decline of Catholi- cism in Gran. He succeeded in reconciling with the

ropolitan rank by St. Stephen (c. 1000-38), first King of Hungary, who converted the country to the Catho- lic Faith and organized the Church there. He chose for the metropolitan see Gran, at that time the richest and most important city in Hungary and the royal residence. St. Adalbert, Bishop of Prague and mar- tyr, was chosen patron of the archidocese. It was Adalbert who converted the royal family to the Catho- lic Church and evangelized the country. The metro- politan church of Gran is dedicated to him, the titular patron being the Blessed Virgin. The first cathedral was begun by St. Stephen in 998. The foundation stone of the present building was laid by Alexander von Rudnay (archbishop 1819-31), and it was finished under Johann Simor (1866-92). In 1198 the royal palace at Gran was given to the archbishop for his resi- dence. The first archbishop was Astericus Anastasius (Astrik-Anastaz) (990-c. 1036), who was the most loyal co-operator of King Stephen in organizing Catho- lic Hungary, and who was sent by .Stephen to Rome to beg papal approval for the organizatiim of the Church in Hungary, and to ask for (lie crown. It was also Astericus who, in the year 1000, crowned Stephen as first King of Hungary with the crown sent by Pope Sylvester II.

Primate. Gran

Church many influential families of Hungary, and thus brought about the ecclesiastical reorganization of the country. A pulpit orator of distinction, he earned imperishable fame by his cultivation of the Hungarian language and won a lasting place in the history of Hungarian literature. For the advancement of the Catholic religion and the promotion of learning, he founded at Vienna the Pazmaneum, a seminary for the training of priests. The University of Tyrnau was also founded by him, but was transferred to Budat (Ofen) by Maria Theresa. In 1891 Klaudius Vaszary was appointed archbishop.

In virtue of his dignity as Primate of Hungary, the Archbishop of Gran possesses a number of extraordi- nary privileges. Johann von Kanizsai (1387-1418) was the first to be mentioned as Primate of Hungary, though the primacy was connected with the Archdio- cese of Gran as early as 1279. The primate is entitled to hold national synods, is Legatus Natus of the Holy Roman Church, has therefore the right, inside of his legation, to have the cross carried before him, and deals directly with the Holy See. As primate he has the right to visit the episcopal sees and the religious houses in Hungary, with the exception of the exempt Archabbey of Pannonhalma (S. Martinus in Monte