Péter Cardinal Erdo

His Eminence Péter Cardinal Erdő (born June 25, 1952 in Budapest) is the archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, Primate of Hungary and a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.

Biography

Péter Erdő studied Catholic theology and philosophy in Esztergom, Budapest and Rome and attained a doctorate within the ranges of theology and canonical law. In 1975 he received the sacrament of the priest and worked afterwards as vicar in Dorog. According to further studies, he worked in Rome from 1977 to 1980. In the years 1980 to 1988 he was a theology professor at the seminar of Esztergom and held guest lectures at several foreign universities. From 1988 Péter Erdő worked as a professor at the theological faculty of the Catholic Péter Pázmány University of Budapest, whose rector he was from 1998 to 2003. Inbetween he was bishop in Székesfehérvár, and, from 2003 he is archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest (after retirement of László Cardinal Paskai). Pope John Paul II appointed him in October 2003 a cardinal. He is (as of April 2005) the youngest cardinal in the College of Cardinals.

Erdő was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that selected Pope Benedict XVI.