István Seregély


István Seregély was a Hungarian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, who served as Archbishop of Eger from 5 June 1987 to 15 March 2007.

Priesthood

Seregély was born in Szombathely on 13 March 1931. His family moved to Miskolc in 1940. He finished his secondary studies at the György Fráter Catholic Secondary School. He started his theological studies in the local seminary of Szombathely, but after its closure, he attended the Central Seminary of Budapest. He was ordained as a priest by Sándor Kovács, the Bishop of Szombathely on 19 June 1955.
From 1956 to 1963, he was chaplain in Gyöngyösfalu, Nyőgér, Bagod and Zalaegerszeg, then from 1963 to 1974, Cathedral of the Visitation of Our Lady in Szombathely. He was made vicar of Kőszegszerdahely by Bishop Árpád Fábián in 1974. He served in this position until 1981. All of four churches, which belonged to his parish – the All Saints Church of Kőszegszerdahely, the St. Vitus Church of Velem, the St. Peter and Paul Church of Cák and the St. Martin Church of Kőszegdoroszló – were renovated. He was vicar of Kőszeg from 1981 to 1987, and nine churches were renovated under his parsonage.

Episcopal career

appointed him Archbishop of Eger on 5 June 1987. He was consecrated as bishop on 25 July by László Paskai at the Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Apostle. His motto was "Christus est via veritas et vita".
Seregély was President of the Hungarian Catholic Bishops' Conference between 1990 and 2005, and simultaneously was also Grand Chancellor of the Pázmány Péter Catholic University from 1992 to 2005. He served as Vice President of the Council of the Bishops' Conferences of Europe from 1993 to 2001. He was awarded Fraknói Vilmos Prize in 2005.
After the appointment of Csaba Ternyák as his successor, Seregély functioned as apostolic governor of the Archdiocese of Eger since 15 March 2007. When Ternyák took the position on 9 June, Seregély became archbishop emeritus.
Seregély died on 31 December 2018 in a priest social home in Nyíregyháza.

Publications