Vilmos Apor
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Blessed Bishop Vilmos Apor |
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|---|---|
| Bishop of Győr | |
c. 1930.
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| Church | Roman Catholic Church |
| Diocese | Győr |
| See | Győr |
| Appointed | 21 January 1941 |
| Installed | 2 March 1941 |
| Term ended | 2 April 1945 |
| Predecessor | István Breyer |
| Successor | Károly Kolman Papp |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 24 August 1915 by Sigismund Waitz |
| Consecration | 24 February 1941 by Jusztinián György Serédi |
| Rank | Bishop |
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | Vilmos Apor |
| Born |
29 February 1892 Segesvár, Mureş, Austria-Hungary |
| Died | 2 April 1945 (aged 53) Győr, Hungary |
| Motto | Crux firmat mitem mitigate fortem ("The Cross strengthens the meek; tames the strong") |
| Coat of arms |  |
| Sainthood | |
| Feast day | 2 April |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Beatified | 9 November 1997 Saint Peter's Square, Vatican City by Pope John Paul II |
| Attributes |
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| Patronage |
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Blessed Vilmos Apor de Altorja (29 February 1892 – 2 April 1945) was a Hungarian Roman Catholic prelate born as a baron and served as a bishop during World War II. He became famous for protesting against the persecution of the Hungarian Jewish population and for his steadfast commitment to the poor. His outreach also extended to abuse victims with a particular emphasis on the protection of women - it would be this latter point that saw him sustain fatal injuries leading to his death. The bishop dedicated himself to being an opponent of both communism and Nazism and used his sermons as a chance to condemn them though coming at a great personal risk to himself. But he was a beloved figure in his diocese where people hailed him as a great saint upon learning of his death which came as a profound shock and loss to the diocese he served during the course of most of the war.
The beatification process opened on 5 March 1991 and culminated after Pope John Paul II presided over the beatification in Saint Peter's Square on 9 November 1997.
Baron Vilmos Apor de Altorja was born in 1892 as the sixth of eight children to the nobles Baron Gabor Apor (1851-98) and Countess Fidelia Palffy (1863-???); one was stillborn and three died in their childhoods. One sister was Gizella and another was Henrietta who was his junior and an elder brother was Gabor. His elder brother served in World War I but later became a Hungarian delegate to the Vatican until his resignation in 1944 in protest of the German occupation of his homeland. His father died in his childhood due to complications from diabetes. His mother was strict but caring and imparted sage religious instruction to her children. He served as an altar server during his childhood and his love for the priesthood intensified to the stage where he harbored an interest in becoming a priest himself. Bishop Miklós Széchnyi was his uncle.
Year one of his initial education saw him teach Henrietta how to read and she often got him to instruct her in catechism. He even asked his mother once for a chalice and missal for Christmas. He attended high school at a Jesuit-run school in Kalksburg where his desires to become a priest intensified further despite his initial homesickness. Apor liked Latin as well as historical studies and received outstanding marks in these subjects while a treatise on the historical Church earned him a prize; he also liked tennis and swimming. Apor then transferred to another Jesuit school at Kalocsa. He decided to begin his studies for the priesthood despite his mother's wish that he wait a little while longer - she consented at Christmas in 1909 - and the local bishop was delighted to receive him in 1910 despite the fact that Apor was not there for long. The bishop sent him to Innsbruck for further studies with the Jesuits in 1910 where he later received a doctorate in theological studies; the rector there was a relative of his. He was at the old theological institute of Nikolaihaus for a brief period before moving to the new Canisianum. Apor was made a subdeacon on 22 August 1915 and was elevated to the diaconate on 23 August.
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