Paper short abstract:

One aftermath of the Hungarian revolution in 1848/49 was the foundation of Courts with fast (and cruel) judgements. This case study shows the reaction of the parish priest of Csongrád regarding the death sentences, even if it was highly dangerous on his own life too.

Paper long abstract:

One of the major duties of priesthood in the past was the spiritual protection of the community, mainly against dangers with presumably transcendental origins (e.g. weather-extremities) or more-or-less „wordly” difficulties (e.g. flood, starvation, wars). The scope of this responsibility is wide, the boundaries are fluid: usually actual incidents modify the range of sufficient methods. It also means that the stories, which are connected to this function, could be quite different from priest to priest, depending on actual happenings, political changes or societal situations.

In my paper I intend to analyze the critical attitude of a Roman Catholic parish priest against an actual state law, which was deeply doubtful regarding fundamental human rights, and incompatible with the norms and values of the community in question.

The consequences of the lost Hungarian revolution in 1848/1849 – which tried to overthrow the Habsburg regime–, were painful and humiliating on several ways. One aftermath was the strict persecution of lancemen, which led to the foundation of Courts with unprecedently fast, superficial and surprisingly cruel judgements. In Csongrád, on the 19th of March, 1853, nine people were sentenced to death because they spent their time in a the same tavern with a wanted lanceman. Their death shocked the community of the town: the executed men were mainly family men with reputable circumstances, without previous infringements. The reaction of parish priest Lajos Virter clearly expressed the common opinion and represented his own judgement regarding the inhuman secular laws.