Magyar News, 2004. szeptember-2005. augusztus (15. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2004-09-01 / 1. szám
SixtiethAnniversary Celebration at St. Emery’s R.C. Church. Father Szlezák is seated in the middle. Sixtieth Anniversary of Priestly Ordination June 11,1944 June 27, 2004 Mount St. Sepulcher St. Emery's Church Washington, D.C.____________Fairfield, CT A memorable celebration took place this summer at St. Emery’s Roman Catholic Church in Fairfield Connecticut. Though it was for a person, it contained several facets. It was about priesthood, churches, and Hungarians. Father Emeric Szlezák was a Hungarian priest for sixty years. His father’s family came from the neighborhood of Esztergom, mother’s spread out to Taksony, Dunaharaszti and Soroksár. Now one may add Connecticut to the list because Father has a sizeable family in that state. What might be an interesting side of Father’s life is that he spoke Hungarian. He was six years old when he came to America. That is not an age when one masters a language. Thanks to his parents who spoke to him in Hungarian, had him in an active Hungarian community, helped him in his studies of becoming a Hungarian priest. In the bulletin at the celebration we read the following about Father’s service of six decades: “It might just be providential that Father Emeric Szlezák's life evolves around the name "Francis". It was that his parents Kalman Szlezák and Elizabeth Beck were married on May 9, 1909 in St. Francis Parish (Budapest, Hungary). He was bom on December 17, 1917 in the Francis District of Budapest and baptized there at St. Joseph's Church. During his early years his parents and siblings attended a Franciscan Parish in the inner city of Budapest. On Thanksgiving Day, 1923, he as a minor and his father emigrated from Hungary and arrived in the United States. He later attended St. Alphonsus Elementary School (Greenpoint, Brooklyn). During this time, Fr. Emeric received and discerned the call to become Celebration at Liedle s Restaurant. Dignitaries are at the headtable Page 2
