Az Apostoli Tábori Helynökség 1848–1849-ben
The Apostolic Military Ordinariate in 1848–1849

Summary/Abstract: The army bishopric was created in 1773 to provide pastoral care for the soldiers of the im-perial and royal army and their families. In 1848, army chaplains were to be found on the battlefield primarily in Italy, Hungary and Transylvania. In the spring of 1848, keeping contact with the senior officers became difficult in Italy because the insurgents were making headway, and many chaplains were taken captive or cut off from their units. To make matters worse, they also had to face financial difficulties as, given the circumstances, al-most nothing came in from the surplice fees. By July 1848, especially the shortage of hos-pital chaplains had become acute due to the military operations. The regiment ministers were needed on the battlefield, while many army chaplains fell ill because of the physical strain and the extraordinarily hot weather. In the more peaceful provinces of the Empire, they rather dealt with scheduling the masses and other administrative tasks. On 15 March, 1849, celebrations commemorating the events that had taken place one year before were held not only in Hungary. With the exception of Lower Austria, the provincials in all Austrian provinces were ordered to have masses celebrated in every church on the anniversary of the imperial statement promising a constitution. The Austrian authorities were surprised when, in the spring of 1848, Lázár Mészáros, the Hungarian minister of war proposed the appointment of an independent Hungarian military bishop. But on November 28, 1848, the army bishop Johann Michael Leonhard ordered the army chapelries in Upper and Lower Austria to commission, in accordance with the the orders from the Supreme Commander, four army chaplains for the army to be recruited against Hungary. During the campaigns, many army chaplains were taken cap-tive by the Hungarian forces. The military hospitals in Pest and Buda were packed with patients, and in the spring of 1849 funerals were carried out rather irregularly. It is sur-prising that quite a few army chaplains who had went over to the Hungarian Home De-fense Forces could continue their service in the Imperial Army after the suppression of the Revolution. Like in other provinces, the staff of the Transylvanian chief chapelry did not have an unanimous view of the revolution and the civil transition. The ministers belonging to the army bishopric made great efforts in 1848 and 1849 to promote unity within the joint army of the multinational Empire. In their sermons, alle-giance to the ruler and the house of the emperor as well as to the military superiors, com-radeship and heroism were the most common concepts. At the same time, they had the important role of representing humanity during the campaigns.[...]

• Details
• Contents