József Grősz, ( 1887–1961)
Born in Féltorony (Halbturn), Moson County, Grősz was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1911. After serving as a minor canon to the Chapter of Győr, he was consecrated bishop of Orthosia in 1929. In 1936, he was appointed apostolic governor of the Diocese of Szombathely. In 1939, he became a member of the upper house of Parliament. Grősz was appointed archbishop of Kalocsa in 1943. As chairman of the Hungarian Conference of Bishops, Grősz signed on August 30, 1950 an agreement between the state and the church. However, he was arrested in May 1951, and on June 28, 1951, sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment, on charges of conspiracy against the democratic order of the state. The treatment of Grősz helped to persuade all the other Hungarian Catholic bishops to take an oath of allegiance to the state. In 1955, Grősz was released and placed under house arrest. He was freed in the amnesty of May 1956, and then resumed his position as an archbishop. He remained chairman of the Bench of Hungarian Bishops until his death in 1961. From 1957, he was also chairman of the Catholic peace organization Opus Pacis, as well a presidium member of the National Peace Council and the Patriotic People’s Front.
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