He was accompanied by Réka Erőss, Minister Counsellor of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, founder and leader of the Budapest prayer group for the beatification of Queen and Empress Zita since 2020, as well as Philippe Pellet, researcher at the Ludovika University of Public Service’s Research Institute for Religion and Society, and Marguerite de Feydeau, a devotee of Zita.
Father Jacques Olivier is a member of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) who was appointed postulator in 2024 to promote the cause of the last Queen of Hungary. Otto von Habsburg’s mother lost her husband when she was 30 years old. She raised eight children and lived to the age of 97, passing away in 1989. Pope Saint John Paul II proposed her beatification first. After the beatification of Charles I (IV) in 2004, the late pope urged that the same procedure be initiated for the queen and empress. The process was officially launched by the bishop of Le Mans in France in 2009. Contrary to tradition, this location was the proponent because the former queen was oblate (a lay person connected with a religious order or institution and living according to its regulations) to the Abbey of Solesmes, a Benedictine monastery located in the diocese.
The beatification process is currently in the investigative phase, during which all available information about the candidate’s life is gathered and organised. Father Olivier shared with us that his task is not to determine whether Queen Zita is eligible for beatification, but to compile as much material as possible so that the ecclesiastical body established for this purpose can make its decision with the benefit of all the necessary information. For this reason, he has sought the assistance of our Foundation in providing copies of any letters or documents written by the late monarch to the historical commission responsible for her beatification, provided that the Access Committee gives its consent. Deputy Director Gergely Fejérdy pledged to assist them in their endeavours.
