Priest Joseph Krank
I was traveling to eastern Hungary from Slovakia. There are excellent transport links between these two countries—several trains run from Kosice (Slovakia’s second city) to Budapest every day. Border control between the countries was abolished (Schengen), so you don’t have to prepare packages of documents, queue up and fill out customs declarations. Traveling across the European Union is so convenient and cheap that millions of Europeans who have become avid travelers take advantage of it.
The Holy Trinity Church in Miskolc It’s always gratifying when my requests for meetings and interviews in the countries I visit receive positive responses. Unfortunately, this does not happen everywhere, but in Miskolc (the fourth largest city in Hungary, in the north-east of the country) I was very welcome and treated as a dear guest. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers (Heb. 13:2), the Apostle Paul wrote, giving advice to the Christians, both early and modern. I felt good echoes of this instruction in Miskolc, where I didn’t even have to look for a place to stay—the parishioners of the Orthodox community had arranged everything in advance. I didn’t have to build myself a route (on foot or by tram) to find the church either; at the railway station the guest from Slovakia was met by the priest’s wife Andrea Krank with her son and Victoria Nemesh, a native of Ukraine who has been living in Hungary for several years. They took me to the Holy Trinity Church on Deak Ferenc Square (about a mile away from the Miskolc-Tiszai Train Station), and also took me on a short tour of the church grounds.
The Orthodox church in Miskolc of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Diocese of Hungary stands on a kind of church “island” of the city where several churches are next to each other: a Roman Catholic, a Uniate and a Protestant one. The Holy Trinity Church is not as old as the Roman Catholic and Protestant ones (it was built in the early nineteenth century), but it can boast the largest iconostasis in Central Europe—sixteen meters (c. 52.5 feet) high. The church also houses the venerated Akhtyrka Icon of the Mother of God, donated to the local Orthodox community by the Russian Empress Catherine II, who passed through Miskolc in 1782.
Iconostasis of the Holy Trinity Church The large area within the church precincts is sown with grass, with shrubs and trees growing here and there, and in one corner there is a small vegetable patch that appeared at the request of the Ukrainian refugees who wanted to grow their own tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, and onions in their new home. Walking around the church, you mentally travel back to the past, reflecting on it: the graves of the nineteenth-century parishioners of the Holy Trinity Church have been preserved here. There is a museum of the Orthodox Church a few dozen yards from the church, in the former building of a parish school. It keeps ancient liturgical utensils, vestments, and books. The museum is believed to have the richest collection in Hungary related to Orthodox worship. Of course, all this was preserved through the efforts of local Christians, even in the tough times when the dominant ideology in Hungary was “scientific” atheism.
The Akhtyrka Icon of the Mother of God at the Holy Trinity Church (Miskolc) Since the beginning of this year, the church has been undergoing restoration with funds from the Hungarian Government, so services are held in one of the museum’s rooms, where a temporary church was organized. There is less space for worshippers here, but it is warmer. On the day I arrived in Miskolc (it was during Lent), the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts was celebrated. It was served in the evening in three languages—Hungarian, Church Slavonic and Greek. There were few parishioners, but the choir sang very sweetly and movingly, and the priest uttered the words of prayers with reverence. However, none of those present took Communion.
“The situation with Communion at the evening Liturgy varies; most often some approach the Chalice,” Fr. Joseph Krank, the Holy Trinity Church’s rector, told me. “But the absence of communicants today is evidence that people understand the need for careful and thoughtful preparation for Communion. We teach parishioners not to eat anything from midnight, and on the day of Communion we allow them to drink some water if necessary, but at least six hours before the participation in the sacrament. The body gets used to such discipline, and a person surely receives grace and support from God.”
Joseph Krank was born in Fehérgyarmat—a small town in eastern Hungary—into a Catholic family, but like many believers in European countries, he returned to his roots, to Orthodoxy. The first “touches” of his conversion were “drawn” in his childhood—from his grandfather, a veteran of the Second World War. Obviously, as a Hungarian citizen he fought on the side of the German invaders, but unlike some of his compatriots, he did not return home with a feeling of hatred, but with deep respect for the Slavic peoples and the Orthodox faith.
“My grandfather remained a Catholic, so he did not convert to Orthodoxy (there were no active Orthodox churches in the vicinity of the town of Mátészalka where I spent my childhood). But I noticed him make the sign of the cross during prayer in the Orthodox way—from right to left. Surprisingly, these childhood memories stayed with me forever and, I believe, introduced me to Orthodoxy for the first time, albeit indirectly.”
At the Museum of the Orthodox Church
The sincerity of faith and the desire to serve God wholeheartedly prompted Joseph to decide to become a priest. He entered one of the Catholic seminaries in Hungary, but his studies brought more disappointment in Catholicism. However, his acquaintance with the Patristic works and trips to Orthodox monasteries in Romania convinced the seminarian that the fullness of truth can only be found in Orthodoxy.
“After becoming Orthodox, I completed internships in Thessaloniki and Kilkis, and also spent several months at the Monastery of Goumenissa in Greece, which lives according to the Athonite rule. Later, I graduated from the Uzhgorod Theological Academy in Ukraine and was ordained in 2003. By the way, my fellow seminarians who were interested in Eastern Christian theology became Orthodox priests as well. Thanks to their acquaintance with various traditions—Romanian, Serbian, and Greek—we were able to see the richness and beauty of Orthodoxy. I think that these national traditions show the independence, beauty and uniqueness of each Local Church.”
“I had the opportunity to serve in a country where Orthodoxy is the predominant religion,” Fr. Joseph says. “But I decided that I would be more useful in my homeland; here we can witness to the Orthodox faith. I believe that Orthodoxy has also played a role (albeit to a small extent) in Hungary becoming a defender of Christian values in the European Union, countering the negative trends coming from Brussels. Our laws define the family model clearly: the father is a man, and the mother is a woman, and they guarantee the upbringing of children based on Christian values, thereby contributing to the presence in Europe of a society based on the Christian worldview.”
Despite the fact that Orthodox Christianity is not the predominant denomination in Hungary, its people’s interest in it is noticeable. More than half of the parishioners of the Holy Trinity Church are native Hungarians, and some of them have converted from other faiths. Fr. Joseph explains it as due to the decline of Christianity in Europe in particular:
“Let’s look at Western Christianity—its situation is deplorable. Churches are being sold and converted into offices, pubs, and living quarters. Millions of young people feel a total inner emptiness; this void is often filled by dangerous occult practices. I think Western Christianity made a mistake by removing mystical content from the services. In Orthodoxy, this mystical component is preserved, and every word and every movement of the service is filled with profound meaning. Western theology became empty, dry, and formal, while the Holy Fathers of the Eastern Church taught that a true theologian is one who prays. People see light in Orthodoxy and come to us.”
“But now we are threatened by the spread of a weak, emasculated, and formal Orthodoxy,” Fr. Joseph adds. “There are people who call themselves Christians, but at the same time openly preach anti-Christian ideas. Children often see bad examples in their families, and the media often promote a lifestyle incompatible with Christianity.”
“What can Orthodox parents do to ensure that their children become true Christians?” I asked.
“Children should see their parents pray and not only turn to the priest with their problems, but also ask him to take care for others. It is necessary to teach children to thank God for everything—for the new day, for an answered prayer, etc. We must all learn to thank God and ask for His help so as not to upset Him and our neighbors with our bad deeds and words.”
By the way, his wife Andrea, the head of the Service of the Family and Children’s Affairs of Miskolc City Council, is working to create a safe and supportive environment for the development of children. Therefore, knowing the subtleties in this field, Fr. Joseph clearly sees that today in the West there is a negative impact on children which deprives them of the sincerity and purity of childhood.
“Children are like a sponge: they absorb all kinds of information, including the bad,” Fr. Joseph says. “Of course, if anti-Christian ideas are taught in schools or kindergartens, they accept them too. Liberalism is more dangerous for children than Communism, because liberalism preaches total permissiveness with anticlerical overtones. The media brainwash people, including young people. It’s very dangerous. In a matter of a few weeks, propaganda can lead to such radicalism that a person who called himself a Christian yesterday can turn against his neighbor today.”
“And all this is being spread by the Hungarian media in spite of the Hungarian leadership’s reasonable position?” I wondered.
“No! The Hungarian Government protects families through legislation, thanks to which a society based on Christian national values exists in Central Europe and opposes Western European globalist, liberal, anti-national and anti-Christian propaganda. There is freedom of the press in Hungary, and the content of publications on social media and liberal media can pose a threat to our children, society, culture and faith. A Christian should be able to systematize information in order to understand what he accepts and what he identifies himself with. In other words, we should learn how to separate the wheat from the chaff,” Fr. Joseph explains.
“In addition to the crisis of values, Europe is also facing migration problems, rightl? Especially in the last few years…” I asked the final question.
“Yes, the conflict between the two fraternal peoples, the Russians and the Ukrainians, is felt painfully in Europe, including by some emigrant communities… Since 2022, refugees have been coming to us too, and I am grateful to God that we have been able to help them in cooperation with the City Council and the Hungary Charity Service of the Hospitaller Order. We provided refugee families with everything they needed (shelter, food, hygiene items, administrative assistance, etc.), both directly and indirectly. We collected food packages and sent whole trucks with humanitarian aid to Transcarpathia. At the same time, we managed to preserve peace in our community among the Orthodox believers of Miskolc, regardless of their nationality. The Ukrainians who arrived in recent years also visited our church, and many of them stayed with us, I would say about eighty percent. We pray continuously for the nations involved in the war, but now we have realized that we must pray harder than ever before. This is a special challenge and a special mission of our time,” the priest concluded.
