Slovakia

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Does anybody know about the Christian history of Slovakia?

I know that at present and in the northeast Presov region of Slovakia, there are many Byzantine Catholic Ruthenians. Most of the remaining people of Slovakia who claim religion seem to be Latin Catholic rather than Byzantine.

However, I read that much of Slovakia was Orthodox before the the unions with Rome. Besides the Ruthenians, who maintain the Byzantine tradition, what is the faith and historical background of the Slovaks themselves?

I’m just interested in this, not trying to set off any sparks.
 
I suppose you could do a google search on Christianity + Slovakia.
 
Madaglan said:
Does anybody know about the Christian history of Slovakia?

I know that at present and in the northeast Presov region of Slovakia, there are many Byzantine Catholic Ruthenians. Most of the remaining people of Slovakia who claim religion seem to be Latin Catholic rather than Byzantine.

However, I read that much of Slovakia was Orthodox before the the unions with Rome. Besides the Ruthenians, who maintain the Byzantine tradition, what is the faith and historical background of the Slovaks themselves?

I’m just interested in this, not trying to set off any sparks.
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The Holy Brothers Sts. Cyril & Methodius, Equal to the Apostles are credited with bringing Christianity to what is today Slovakia. They brought what is today the Byzantine Rite.

Over the centuries, Slovakia was influenced by the Holy Roman Empire and more and more by the Western Church.

Along with Catholics you also Lutheran Slovaks and a few Germans as well as Hungarians who are Calvinist and Evangelical.

This is it in a nutshell…

Hope it helps…

Oh, BTW, Presov is in Eastern Slovakia, not Northeastern Slovakia. Northeastern Slovakia would be the area of Svidnik:thumbsup:
 
Madaglan said:
Does anybody know about the Christian history of Slovakia?

I know that at present and in the northeast Presov region of Slovakia, there are many Byzantine Catholic Ruthenians. Most of the remaining people of Slovakia who claim religion seem to be Latin Catholic rather than Byzantine.

However, I read that much of Slovakia was Orthodox before the the unions with Rome. Besides the Ruthenians, who maintain the Byzantine tradition, what is the faith and historical background of the Slovaks themselves?

I’m just interested in this, not trying to set off any sparks.
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Yes my father’s family is from there. Most of the EOs are late arrivals. My father for instance came from a town called Gelnica and lived there from the 30s into 42 or 43 (before being forced to leave because of Communist partisans, being separated from his father the only surviving parent,and having to seek refuge in German run refugee camps etc.). As he says in regards to religion (especially concerning the many Protestants denominations in the US) “all we knew back home were Lutherans, Catholics and Jews”. (The Catholics all appear to be western/ Latin from my conversations and investigations).

In reading up on the history of that area in light of becoming interested in Orthodoxy in the late 90s, and hearing from EO folks that Czechoslavakia was/is “An Orthodox country”. Most of the EO presence there is immigration that came after the War. There was a small EO presence there before WWII but it was pretty small.
 
Christianity in Slovakia is predominantly Latin Rite because Frankish, Irish, and German missionaries were ahead of Sts. Cyril and Methodius by a century, the brothers arriving there only in 863 and finding the faithful under German bishops.

Slovakia is about 74% Catholic (Latin and Byzantine combined) in a total population of 5.4 million.

On the other hand, the Czech Republic, originally Latin Rite, is about only 39% Catholic at present in a total population of 10.2 million due to the spread of the teachings of John Hus beginning in the 15th century and other schisms.
 
But it was Sts.Cyril and Methodius who were sanctioned by Adrian II, the Pope of Rome to translate the Divine Liturgy into what is now know as Church Slavonic to educate the Slav people of Great Moravia and KIng Svatopluk…
 
Addai said:
In reading up on the history of that area in light of becoming interested in Orthodoxy in the late 90s, and hearing from EO folks that Czechoslavakia was/is “An Orthodox country”. Most of the EO presence there is immigration that came after the War. There was a small EO presence there before WWII but it was pretty small.
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The Greek Catholic Church was outlawed in 1949 in Slovakia and her priests were arrested, tried, convicted and either imprisoned or exiled. Her Bishops were imprisoned and died either in prison or as a result of imprsionement.

In 1968, during the Prague Spring, there was a referendum for the Orthodox church do see if the faithrul wished to remain Orthodox. Of the 292 parishes involved, 205 voted for restoring communion with Rome. The referendum was not completed in a few more parishes.

Also, as of January 1, 1993, Czechoslovakia ceased to exist. It is now the Czech Republic and Slovakia or Slovak Republic.
 
I attend a Slovakian Catholic Church. They have a TLM. 👍

saintcyrils.org/

You could probably email Fr. Ben or Fr. Libor. Both are from Slovakia and are wonderful priests. Fr. Libor just moved to the parish from Slovakia a few months ago in fact.

God bless!
 
Since my grandmother came from near the Presov area, and I’ve done some research, I thought I’d post!

Keep in mind that what is now Slovakia was once part of the Kingdom of Hungary, which became the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The first king of Hungary, St. Stephen of Hungary (Istvan the Great), was converted to Latin Rite Catholicism and received his crown from Pope Sylvester II in the year 1000. The Holy Crown is on actually on display at the Parliament building in Budapest and dates from at least 1100. One additional fun fact is that it was stored in Fort Knox, Kentucky in the US Gold Depository during WWII.

Finally, King Istvan wrote a very nice treatise on how a Christian King was to rule to his son. Sadly, his son died before him.
 
texintenn;4793982}One additional fun fact is that it was stored in Fort Knox said:
Actually, St. Stephen’s crown was found by the US ARMY in 1945 in Austria and transported to the US in 1946 to keep out of the hands of the Communists.

It was returned to Hungary by order of then President Jimmy Carter in 1978.

It was incorporated in the current Hungarian Seal of State in 1990. There were some who objected to use of the Crown in the state seal as they saw it as a symbol of those who wish a return of the old Hungarian Empire which included those lands in Slovakia, Ukraine, and Romania; much as was done in 1938 and during WWII.

Hope this helps…
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Madaglan said:
Does anybody know about the Christian history of Slovakia?

I know that at present and in the northeast Presov region of Slovakia, there are many Byzantine Catholic Ruthenians. Most of the remaining people of Slovakia who claim religion seem to be Latin Catholic rather than Byzantine.

However, I read that much of Slovakia was Orthodox before the the unions with Rome. Besides the Ruthenians, who maintain the Byzantine tradition, what is the faith and historical background of the Slovaks themselves?

I’m just interested in this, not trying to set off any sparks.
Click to expand...
I am Slovak. Maybe I can answer some of your questions. Slovakia is one of the regions in europe where western european cultures meet those in eastern europe (catholics vs orthodox). Although our ancestors came to this region probably in 7th century (maybe earlier) they lost a chance to develope as an independent nation quite early on. Since the 10th century this region was ruled by hungarians and later austrians for almost thousand years. Slovaks formed their own nation under very difficult circumstances. History of slovaks as a nation is not very old and started only in the 19th century. The first slovak republic was formed during WWII and lasted until 1945. The second (current) Slovakia was formed in 1993 after split from Czechs.
This is a very brief introduction to slovak history. Now about catholic church. Slovakia is divided into three main regions: western, central, eastern. This clasification is not only geografical (high mountains separate these regions from each other) but also cultural and historical. There was very little interactions between people in western and eastern parts of slovakia in old times. Western and central parts of Slovakia were always more exposed to western influence than the eastern part. There were/are traditionally no eastern rite catholics or orthodox christians in these regions. Most of people here were/are either catholics or lutherans. The situation is slightly different in eastern slovakia. Most of slovaks here are still roman catholics but some of them along with ruthenians are eastern catholics or orthodox. Slovakia has 70% of roman catholics and only 4% eastern catholics. As for other christians, there is 10% protestants of different denominations with lutherans as the largest. Slovakia has many ethnic groups living here. The largest are hungarians and roma (almost 10% each). Ruthenians are a very small non-slovak ethnic group in eastern slovakia (about 1%).
 
Doesn’t Roma mean the Gypsies? I was married to a man of Hungarian desent and was there several times. As I recall that was what they were called.

I really have no idea if that is correct, just was wondering. I have attended St. Stephens Catholic Church in Los Angeles and it is mostly Hungarians, although they have Mass in German, Spanish and English. After the Hungarian Mass they always had a lunch.

Yours in the Hearts Jesus and Mary

Bernadette
 
BernadetteM said:
Doesn’t Roma mean the Gypsies? I was married to a man of Hungarian desent and was there several times. As I recall that was what they were called.

I really have no idea if that is correct, just was wondering. I have attended St. Stephens Catholic Church in Los Angeles and it is mostly Hungarians, although they have Mass in German, Spanish and English. After the Hungarian Mass they always had a lunch.

Yours in the Hearts Jesus and Mary

Bernadette
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Hi Bernadette

ROMA is the name that the “Gypsies” call themselves. The word “gypsy” is considered to be a not so nice word, akin to the “N” word in this country.

Hope this helps…
 
I know 4-5 100% Slovakians some with accents, all are Roman Catholic, most who have had the fortune to go back, love it, but there are still very big politics that go on there. I wouldn’t doubt that they were Orthodox in many ways , the areas around them tend to be very Christian orthodox.
 
Yes, I thought that I was correct. I know that the Roma’s were very much disliked in Hungary. Many were in the entertainment areas at places to eat. I also heard a woman sing in their language. It was very interesting. As I recall the words were very fast.

I really did love Hungary and the people. The best part was the food. I do cook some Hungarian dishes. I was always interested in Eastern Europe, even as a girl.

I pray that these people are treated with more respect now. It’s been many years since I was there so I don’t know if life is better than before the fall. I have a Hungarian friend who is from Slovakia and lives there 6 months a year.

Thanks for the info.

Yours in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary

Bernadette
 
There was a period during the Austro-Hungarian empire that Slovak’s were forced to change their language, street names, and other things so they would gradually lose their indentity. The Catholic schools systematically shuddered, and the records removed (in those days there was no census office, and the most detailed records were in the Catholic Church.)

Primarily relgated to very agricultural jobs and very poor (somewhat a second class citizen in the larger empire), immigration to the U.S. began in the second half of the 1800’s through the early 1900’s.

Personally, my ancestors got here around 1898-1904, and out of that first group of brothers (Pittsburgh), 3 cousins became Priests. Slovakia, through all its turmoil and name changes, has remained predominantley Roman Catholic in identity (their coins, their community leaders, etc. reflect this greatly.)

I believe looking up “Slovakia” on wikipedia, etc., or contacting Catholic Churches with Slovak heritage, would be a wothwhile to anyone interested.
 
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