Among the European cardinals, Hungary’s Péter Erdõ is the favorite in the conclave to be elected as the next Pope, according to the ‘Italian Insider’ that says 60-year-old Erdõ could be pontiff for a long time. Hungarian circles dismiss the idea.

The US State Department has criticised parts of Hungary's church that substantially cut the number of recognized churches and the strengthening of the radical nationalist Jobbik party in its international report of religious freedom for 2011.