László Batthyány-Strattmann

In 1902, László founded a private 25-bed hospital in Kittsee (Austria), next to the family castle. He initially practiced there as a general practitioner before specializing in surgery and ophthalmology. During the First World War, he expanded the facility to accommodate up to 120 wounded soldiers.

In 1915, upon the death of his uncle Ödön Batthyány-Strattmann, he inherited the title of prince, the name "Strattmann," and the castle of Körmend in Hungary. In 1920, the family moved there. László transformed a wing of the castle into a modern ophthalmological clinic.

Nicknamed the "doctor of the poor," he treated the destitute for free, provided them with medicine, and sometimes covered their travel expenses. As payment, he simply asked his patients to recite a Our Father for him.

During his life, he performed approximately 30,000 ophthalmological operations (notably for cataracts). He always prayed before and during his procedures, affirming that he was only an instrument in the hands of God. Upon their discharge from the hospital, he offered each patient a holy card or a spiritual booklet.

The daily life of the Batthyány family was centered on faith: daily Mass, recitation of the Rosary as a family, catechism lessons given by László to his children, and concrete acts of charity assigned each day. From 1907, he recited the Little Office of the Immaculate Conception in Latin daily.

The family went through a terrible ordeal with the death of their son Ödön, aged 21, who was taken by appendicitis. László accepted this loss with profound Christian resignation.

Afflicted with bladder cancer, he endured terrible suffering for fourteen months. Transferred to a sanatorium in Vienna, he edified those around him with his patience and spiritual joy. He declared: "I am happy. I suffer excruciatingly, but I love my pains and it consoles me to know that I bear them for Christ."

He passed away holily on January 22, 1931, in Vienna. He is buried in the family crypt of the Franciscan monastery of Güssing (Austria).

The cause for beatification was opened on August 30, 1944, jointly by the Archbishop of Vienna and the Bishop of Szombathely, but the process was interrupted by the upheavals of the post-war period.

The cause was relaunched in 1982 at the initiative of the Bishop of Eisenstadt. On July 11, 1992, Pope John Paul II promulgated the decree recognizing the heroic nature of his virtues, declaring him venerable.

On July 5, 2002, a decree approved a miracle attributed to his intercession: the scientifically inexplicable healing, which occurred in 1989, of a patient suffering from an incurable cancer.

László Batthyány-Strattmann was solemnly beatified by Pope John Paul II on March 23, 2003, in Saint Peter's Square in Rome. His liturgical feast is set for January 22.

The spirituality of László Batthyány-Strattmann rests on his family motto: Fidelitate et caritate ("With fidelity and charity"). He was able to combine in an exemplary manner his vocation as a father, his status as a nobleman, and his profession as a doctor, placing his fortune and his skills at the exclusive service of the most destitute.

His wife, Maria Teresa Coreth, who was his devoted collaborator at the hospital and in the Christian education of their children, is also recognized as a Servant of God, her cause for beatification having received the nihil obstat from the Holy See on October 23, 2023.

In Hungary, his legacy is perpetuated in particular by the "Blessed László Batthyány-Strattmann" Institute in Budapest, a center for visually impaired and physically disabled children founded by Sister Anna Fehér, which Pope Francis paid a private visit to on April 29, 2023.