Hungarian Greek Catholic priest Péter Pál Orosz, who was martyred in 1953, was officially beatified on Saturday in the village of Bilk (Bilke), in Ukraine’s Transcarpathia region. The event was marked by commemorations in his native village of Biri and in nearby Nagykálló, both located in Hungary’s Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County, the Nyíregyháza Diocese confirmed.
The celebrations began Friday evening with a prayer vigil organized by youth in the Greek Catholic church of Nagykálló, followed by small group discussions and an overnight torchlight pilgrimage from Nagykálló to Biri.
Saturday’s program included a solemn Divine Liturgy in Biri, attended by several dignitaries, including Fegyir Sándor, Ukraine’s Ambassador to Hungary; Viktor Kramarenko, President of the National Self-Government of Rusyns; and Miklós Simon, Fidesz MP representing the region.
The weekend of remembrance concluded with the blessing of a new travel icon of Blessed Péter Pál Orosz.
Fact
Born on July 14, 1917, in Biri into a Greek Catholic priestly family, Péter Pál Orosz lost his parents at a young age and was raised by relatives, later taken in by his paternal uncle, also a priest in Mukachevo. He was ordained on July 28, 1942, beginning his ministry as a chaplain in the village of Magyarkomját. On December 19, 1944, he was secretly consecrated as a bishop by Bishop Theodore Romzha.
Following the Soviet occupation of Transcarpathia in 1944, the Greek Catholic Church faced severe persecution. Refusing to convert to Orthodoxy, Orosz continued his priestly service illegally, ministering under cover of night from village to village. He was targeted by authorities, imprisoned, and later released—but he continued his clandestine ministry despite growing danger.
On August 28, 1953, he was arrested again in the village of Alsókaraszló. When he refused to go any further, a Soviet officer accompanying him shot him in the head at point-blank range at the village’s edge.
His body was buried secretly in a wooded area near Beregkövesd (Berehove Raion region). It was later exhumed and hidden in concrete in the garage of the police chief in Ilosva (Irshava). In 1992, his remains were finally recovered and laid to rest in the garden of the church in Bilk.
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Via MTI; Featured image: Facebook/Nyíregyházi Egyházmegye
The post Greek Catholic Priest Beatified 72 Years after Soviet-Era Martyrdom appeared first on Hungary Today.
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