kultura.hu / September 26, 2024
Piarist Father István Jelenits, retired high school, college and university teacher, passed away quietly on September 26, 2024, strengthened by the sacraments among his fellow religious, in the 92nd year of his life, 70th of his monastic life, and 65th of his priesthood, the Hungarian Province of the Piarist Order announced.
István Jelenits is a Piarist monk, theologian, teacher. Photo: Attila Kovács / MTI
A Hungarian Courier The life journey of the deceased monk can be read in detail on a Catholic news portal in a statement issued by the Hungarian Province of the Piarist Order:
“Our comrade was born on December 16, 1932 in Berettyóújfalu. He graduated from Piarista High School in Budapest in 1951. In 1955, he graduated from the Hungarian department of the Eötvös Loránd University Faculty of Arts. He entered the Piarist order in 1955, was ordained a priest four years later, and ordained a doctor of theology. From 1960, he taught religion and Hungarian language and literature at the Piarist High School in Kecskemét and later in Budapest, until 2003. From 1965, he also taught biblical subjects in the capital at Kalazantinum, the religious studies college of the order, and from 2000 at its successor, the Sapientia Monastic College of Religious Studies. Between 1985 and 1995, he was the provincial head of the Piarist order in Hungary. From 1992 he taught for several years at the Piarist school in Göd, and from 1993 at the Piarist school in Vác, later also at the Vilmos Apor Catholic College in Vác. From 1995, he was professor of aesthetics and head of department at Pázmány Péter Catholic University, professor emeritus since 2015.
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From 1993 to 1997, he was a member of the board of the National Council of Public Education, from 1998 to 2003 of the National Textbook Publishing Company, and since 1995 he was the president of the János Pilinszky Literary and Art Society. His work and service have been recognized with numerous awards.”
One was prepared for the readers of Magyar Kurír interview Father Jelenits on the occasion of his 90th birthday. There, among other things, he talks about the duty of the believer:
“Man is a thinking being created in the image of God. Just as the Good Lord does not give up dealing with us, we must not give up working on ourselves and the other person either. It is the essence of our humanity.”
And for those living with the Catholic faith, he considered the following to be extremely important:
Being a Catholic, in my opinion, means knowing that God feels that even those separated from him are his own. Today we find that it is not denominations that break away from the Church, but more and more people due to secularism. Facing this situation and remaining a Christian and a Catholic is a challenge. We should never give up on the other person, so that we do not live in litigation, but in hope, to keep open the paths that lead to the other person. Let’s not be narrow-minded, and even though the fast-paced world seems to lead to depersonalization, let’s take care of our soul and the other person.