Between June 8-9 2026, the Austrian Historical Institute and the Slovak Historical Institute organized a conference in Rome under the title “Vienna come punto nevralgico diplomatico verso l’Europa centro-orientale. Il cardinale König, la Nunziatura di Vienna e gli albori di una politica orientale del Vaticano.” The presentations at the event analyzed various aspects of the diplomatic, mediating and caritative activities of the Apostolic Nunciature, as well as Cardinal Franz König, the Archbishop of Vienna.
András Fejérdy presented his paper “Flussi di informazioni attraverso la cortina di ferro: la nunziatura di Vienna e le comunicazioni tra Ungheria e Vaticano all‘inizio della Guerra Fredda” at the conference. In his presentation, the PI of our research team reviewed the history of relations between the Holy See and Hungary after 1945, noting that the distinguished mediating role of the Viennese Nunciature’s emerged during the 1956 revolution. In addition to establishing new channels of communication, the Nunciature also took on an important role in organizing humanitarian aid. Furthermore, alongside its previous executive role, its advisory function – based on local knowledge -became increasingly prominent, even if the Secretariat of State did not always adopt its recommendations.
More information on the conference is available here.