Salesians in Hungary
Encyclopedia
Short History of the Province
The Hungarian Salesian Province, named after Saint Stephan, is the smallest Salesian province, although the Salesian Order is the third largest order in the world.The Salesians are present in Hungary from the year of 1913. The first Salesian priest in Hungary was Károly Zafféry.
By the middle of the XX. Century, they became present in
- BalassagyarmatBalassagyarmatBalassagyarmat is a town in northern Hungary. It was the seat of the Nógrád comitatus.- History :The town's coat-of-arms bears the Latin inscription "Civitas Fortissima" , because in January 1919 Czechoslovak troops crossed the demarcation line delineated in December 1918 in preparation for the...
- BorsodnádasdBorsodnádasdBorsodnádasd is a small industrial town in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, Northern Hungary; 80 kilometers from the county capital Miskolc, and from the city of Ózd.-History:...
- BudapestBudapestBudapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
- GyulaGyula, HungaryGyula is a city in Békés county in south-eastern Hungary. It lies close to the border with Romania, on the river Fehér-Körös.-History:The first recorded reference to Gyula was in a document dated 1313 which mentions a monastery called Gyulamonostor . By 1332 the settlement around the monastery was...
- Esztergomtábor
- NyergesújfaluNyergesújfaluNyergesújfalu is a town in Komárom-Esztergom county, Hungary.The city, located near the river Danube, is an ancient site of habitation. Aerial photography has revealed the outline of an earthwork fort built centuries ago. It has become a destination for tourists and hikers; the latter take...
- Péliföldszentkereszt
- PestszentlőrincPestszentlorincPestszentlőrinc , Saint Lawrence of Pest , the 18th district of Budapest is situated at the south-eastern part of the city. It is made up of two earlier distinct towns: Pestszentlőrinc and Pestszentimre....
- SzombathelySzombathelySzombathely is the 10th largest city in Hungary. It is the administrative centre of Vas county in the west of the country, located near the border with Austria...
- ÚjpestÚjpestÚjpest may refer to:*Újpest, a district of Budapest, Hungary.*Újpest FC, a football team based in Újpest....
and in also some places which are of lesser significance.
According to Salesian school entries, in the year 1950, there were 280 Salesian monks in Hungary working in 15 places.
However, the socialist dictatorship prohibited every religious order
Religious order
A religious order is a lineage of communities and organizations of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion, usually characterized by the principles of its founder's religious practice. The order is composed of initiates and, in some...
in Hungary, and therefore the Salesians also had to abandon their work. Although they were officially dismissed, many of the former monks continued to live their sacred life.
By the end of the communist regime, only 83 Salesians remained to begin working once again in the spirit of Don Bosco:
to serve the poor and neglected youth.
Óbuda - Provincial House and Salesianum Boarding House
Foundation:2001The Salesians bought the site Bécsi út 173 - which is now the home for the present Provincial House, in 1999. Its foundation stone was laid down on the 24th of May in the year 2001; the building was finally completed and blessed on the first of January, 2002.
Its functions are currently: Provincial centre, home for Salesian aspirant
Aspirant
Aspirant is a military rank in the Canadian Navy, French military, Brazilian military, Romanian Navy and Polish Police.-Canadian Navy:Similar to the French usage, the Canadian Navy uses the French-language rank of "Aspirant de marine" to denote a junior officer under training. The same rank in the...
s-, novicess (1999), post-novices and theology students; furthermore, to the Provincial House does also belong a church, the Segítő Szűz Mária church (Mary Help of Christians), which is located next to the main building.
The Salesianum Boarding House is the part of the main building facing the Bécsi Street. It was originally designed for the provincialate, but later became a boarding house for male, Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
university students.
Address:Szent Alajos Szalézi Rendház
1032 Budapest, Bécsi út 175.
Provincial:P. Manjooran, Simon SDB (since 2010)
Head of the house:P. Andrásfalvy, János SDB
Szent Alajos House
Foundation:1920At the time of the foundation of the house, in Óbuda - the third district of Budapest, it was one of the poorest districts of the capital city.
During the Second World War, many Jews and Polish Salesians found shelter in this house. After 1992, when the Salesians regained the most of their former possessions, a general rebuilding and renovating processes started.
On the Bécsi út 175 site (approximately 1000 metres2 large) a new house was built in which 13 rooms- , a dining hall, a library and an auditorium found place.
Péliföldszentkereszt
Foundation:1913Péliföldszentkereszt (or simply "Szentkereszt") is a widely known place for pilgrimages from the XVIII. Century. The temple's relic is said to contain two little fragments of the cross of Christ (as also its name indicates: "Szent" means holy and "kereszt" means cross). The relic was recently put in a new reliquiary.
From the November of 1913, the church and the monastery of Péliföldszentkereszt was given to the Salesians, as it was abandoned since 1906. The Salesians were also entrusted in 1915 with running the secondary school of the nearby village of Nyergesújfalu.
In 1950, both buildings were nationalized. The pilgrim house became a prison and the monastery itself was made into a hunter's house of the communist Trade Union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
's.
In 1992, the order got the monastery back with its additional buildings. The Szalézi Irinyi Secondary School was only returned in 2001.
Address:Szalézi Rendház
2533 Bajót Péliföldszentkereszt
Head of the house:P. Ábrahám Béla SDB
Szombathely
Foundation:1929Szombathely was the home for the Salesian novices from 1991 until 1999, when the Provincial House took over this function. The Salesian House of Szombathely consists of the Szent Kvirin church, a monastery, the former novitiate house, the oratory building and a theater hall.
Address:Szalézi Rendház
9700 Szombathely, Táncsics Mihály u.44.
Head of the house:P. Csány, Péter SDB
Balassagyarmat
Foundation:1934The Salesian house of Balassagyarmat was reorganized(?) from a former barrack of the gendarmerie. After the First World War, in 1924, the barrack became an orphanage. In 1934, the Salesians became entrusted with the building which they renovated and kept running until the end of the Second World War. In 1992, the house was given back to the Salesians and they are still actively present there. The newly renovated Oratory was opened on the 20th of January, 2007.
Address:Bosco Szent János Rendház
2660 Balassagyarmat, Kossuth Lajos u. 41.
Head of the house:P. Baji János SDB
Kazincbarcika
Foundation:2006Kazincbarcika was only recently founded in a place, where there were no Salesian presence before. The Kazincbarcika house is an important step in Hungarian missionary work. The vocational school which the Salesians run in Kazincbarcika is mainly concerned in the education of very poor students, who usually belong to a minority of gypsies. But moreless all the youngsters come here after having difficulty at other schools or in the family. There are three Salesians working in Kazincbarcika, their main duty is evangelization within the school, as well as in the neighborhood, where socially disadvantaged families live.
Address:3700 Kazincbarcika, Május 1. út 11.
Head of the House:P. Márkus Zoltán SDB
Don Bosco Publisher
The Don Bosco Publisher is the property of the Salesian Congregation.The Publisher is the successor of the "Szalézi Művek" (Salesian Works, if translated) which was closed after 1950. The press restarted its work in 1991, publishing works chiefly on Salesian mission and education.
Address:Don Bosco Kiadó Bt. Könyvesbolt 1053 Budapest, Múzeum körút 7.