Károly Lénár (in memoriam)

Msgr. Károly Lénár was born on 4 April 1923 in the small village of Dolinka in the Ipeľ valley. In 1943 he graduated from the Benedictine Grammar School in Esztergom. He completed his theological studies in Bratislava and Budapest and, although he could have remained there after the Second World War, he decided to return to his homeland, where he was ordained a priest in Bratislava in 1948.

He began his priestly ministry in Cífer and then worked as a hospital chaplain in Nové Zámky. Because Father Lénár refused to collaborate with the secret police, opposed the movement of “peace priests” and refused to sign greetings to Stalin, he was regarded as an enemy of the system. By the time he arrived at his new post in the village of Nenince in December 1950, a warrant had already been issued for his arrest. For a long time, however, the authorities were unable to arrest him, because for weeks the faithful protected the parish and their courageous parish priest with a human chain. At one point three hundred people spent the night in the parish garden. The State Security (StB) finally succeeded in arresting him on 9 December 1951.

In response to the arrest, the church bell rang out in the village and more than 1,500 people gathered. The crowd occupied the post office and attacked the chairman of the local national committee. In the end the army had to be called in to Nenince. Six people were arrested on charges of rioting and seven on charges of high treason.

On 2 October 1952 Károly Lénár was sentenced to seventeen years in prison for treason. He was held in Ilava, Leopoldov, Mírov and Jáchymov, among other places. At the end of 1958 he was sent to Valdice, where he worked as a glass grinder. He was eventually released 5 years early, on 20 August 1963, under an amnesty, having lost 45 kilograms. He then had to work as a labourer for seven years, and it was not until 1970 that he became parish priest in Dvory nad Žitavou. From 1987 until his retirement he carried out his zealous pastoral work in Tvrdošovce. There he took exemplary care of the church, enriching it with a new tower clock, an altar, a nativity scene and a chapel in the cemetery, and he initiated the creation of a statue of Saint Stephen. With his help, a Catholic Youth Community was founded. Through his tireless work he won the hearts of the people of Tvrdošovce. He spent the last years of his life in his native village, where he served as an assistant priest until his death on 20 August 2005.

Through his work, Károly Lénár served the entire Hungarian community. He was one of the main organisers of the Prayer Days in Komárno, and he founded and led the Good Shepherd Foundation. He devotedly served God, the Church and the Hungarian people. He taught, encouraged, consoled and guided his faithful until his death.