Roch András Kereszty (February 6, 1933 – December 14, 2022) was a Hungarian-American monk and scholar.

Life

Kereszty was born in Budapest on February 6, 1933. His mother was a high-school teacher and his father a decorated veteran. Neither were practicing Catholics; they struggled to maintain a stable marriage. Kereszty attended a school run by Cistercian priests from

Zirc Abbey Zirc Abbey, formerly also Zircz Abbey, also known as ''Zircensis'' or ''Boccon'', is a Cistercian abbey, situated in Zirc in the Diocese of Veszprém, Hungary. History First period The early history of the monastery is obscure as regards to both ...

and entered the novitiate at a time when the abbey was suppressed by the Communist regime, making it necessary to hold classes in secret, and at great danger. Soon after the

Hungarian uprising of 1956 The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 10 November 1956; hu, 1956-os forradalom), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was a countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the Hunga ...

, he fled to Rome. where he continued his studies. He took solemn vows for Zirc Abbey while a refugee in Austria, with the abbot of

Lilienfeld Abbey Lilienfeld Abbey (german: Stift Lilienfeld) is a Cistercian monastery in Lilienfeld in Lower Austria, south of Sankt Pölten. History It was founded in 1202 by Leopold VI, Duke of Austria and Styria, as a daughter house of Heiligenkreuz Abbey. ...

as a proxy on 18 September 1960. Two weeks later, on 2 October 1960, he was ordained a priest by the bishop of

St. Pölten ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy ...

, in his private chapel. Kereszty went to Rome for a doctorate in theology at the Pontifical Atheneum of St. Anselm, and then, in 1963 moved to the new monastery Hungarian Cistercians had founded in Dallas, Texas. There, he served as master of novices and a professor at the

University of Dallas The University of Dallas is a Private university, private Catholic church, Catholic university in Irving, Texas. Established in 1956, it is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The university comprises four academi ...

. Although he was soon recalled from the university by his abbot and assigned to teach at the prep school, he later returned to the university and served there as a professor for decades. He was university chaplain for several semesters. In addition to his academic work, throughout his priestly life he was a sought-after

spiritual director Spiritual direction is the practice of being with people as they attempt to deepen their relationship with the divine, or to learn and grow in their personal spirituality. The person seeking direction shares stories of their encounters of the di ...

and

confessor Confessor is a title used within Christianity in several ways. Confessor of the Faith Its oldest use is to indicate a saint who has suffered persecution and torture for the faith but not to the point of death.Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

on December 14, 2022, at the age of 89.

Monographs (selection)

* ''Die Weisheit in der mystischen Erfahrung beim hl. Bernhard von Clairvaux''. Dissertation, Westmalle 1963. * ''God seekers for a new age; from crisis theology to Christian atheism.'' Editor. Pflaum Press, Dayton, Ohio 1970. * ''Rediscovering the Eucharist: Ecumenical Considerations''. Paulist Press, New York 2003. * ''Wedding Feast of the Lamb: eucharistic theology from a historical, biblical, and systematic perspective''. HillenbrandBooks, Chicago 2004. * ''Christianity among other religions: apologetics in a contemporary context'' (edited by Andrew C. Gregg). St. Pauls, Staten Island, N.Y. 2006. * ''Jesus Christ: Fundamentals of Christology''. St. Pauls Publications, 1991, first edition; a third edition followed in 2018. It included an appendix with a Reader's Guide and an essay on Bernard of Clairvaux's Christology. * ''The Church of God in Jesus Christ: a Catholic Ecclesiology''. The Catholic University of America Press, Washington, D.C 2019. * ''Rekindle the Gift of God. A Handbook for Priestly Life''. Ignatius Press, San Francisco 2021.

Journal articles

Kereszty published in the journal ''

Communio ''Communio'' is a federation of theological journals, founded in 1972 by Joseph Ratzinger, Hans Urs von Balthasar, Henri de Lubac, Walter Kasper, Marc Ouellet, Louis Bouyer, and others. ''Communio'', now published in fifteen editions (including ...

'' from 1974 to 2021. In the years 1983–2021, he published a total of 36 articles in the journal, focussing on the topics of ecclesiology, Christology, Bernard of Clairvaux, Jewish-Catholic relations, and current controversies in Catholic theology. He also published frequently in the ''Analecta Cisterciensia''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kereszty, Roch 1933 births 2022 deaths 21st-century American Roman Catholic priests 20th-century American Roman Catholic priests Roman Catholic biblical scholars Cistercians Hungarian theologians Pontifical Biblical Commission 21st-century American Roman Catholic theologians 20th-century American Roman Catholic theologians University of Dallas faculty Pontifical Atheneum of St. Anselm alumni Hungarian emigrants to the United States Clergy from Budapest