'Gravis Quaestio Exsurrexit'. An Unsuccessful Attempt at Establishing a Hungarian Greek Catholic Bishopric in 1881

This paper analyzes the failed 1881 attempt to establish the Hungarian Greek Catholic Eparchy of Hajdúdorog. Driven by a strong national identity, Hungarian-speaking Greek Catholics campaigned for an independent bishopric and the use of the Hungarian language in their liturgy. While the Hungarian government and the Monarch were open to the 1881 initiative, Latin-rite Catholic prelates—most notably Cardinals Haynald and Simor—fiercely opposed it. They feared that authorizing a Hungarian liturgy would prompt similar vernacular demands from Roman Catholics and other ethnic minorities, threatening both church discipline and state cohesion. Consequently, the eparchy's foundation was delayed until 1912, a three-decade setback that severely hindered the community's institutional development.