Stefan Török

Stefan Hugo Karl Török (born von Török ; born June 28, 1903 in Graz , † June 5, 1972 in Vienna ) was the third bishop of the Old Catholic Church in Austria .

Life

Youth and priesthood

Stefan Hugo Karl von Török was born as the son of a high kk officer in Graz. He attended the Schottengymnasium in Vienna and then the grammar school in Baden , where he passed his Matura in 1922 . How he got to know the Old Catholic Church is not exactly clear, at least he presented himself to the then diocese administrator Adalbert Schindelar around 1922 and studied at the Protestant theological faculty in Vienna from 1922 to 1927. In addition, he began studying political science . He continued both courses at the University of Graz . On November 14, 1926, he was as Old Catholic priest by Aloys Paschek in St. Salvator Church ordained and began working as a vicar in the Old Catholic parish Vienna-West.

In the following years he was appointed head of religious education in Vienna, in 1933 he wrote a three-volume textbook for religious education in upper school and in 1936 was appointed by the state as a middle school professor for Old Catholic religion.

His legal knowledge also benefited the Old Catholic Church in Austria in some of the legal disputes that were frequent at the time. In 1938 he was appointed vicar general of the Old Catholic parishes in Austria by Bishop Robert Tüchler . After Tüchler's resignation in 1942, Török was appointed diocese administrator. During this time he tried to enable the Old Catholic Church of Austria to survive. He also helped former students of Jewish descent and the syndic of the Synodal Council, Erwin Lustig , to go into exile. According to his own statements, Török protested against the euthanasia at Joseph Goebbels and was warned by the Gestapo for it.

Török began studying medicine during the war in 1939 . The title of his doctoral thesis was: The philosophy of religion of Paracelsus and its contemporary historical background .

Episcopate

On October 5, 1947, Stefan Török was elected the third bishop of the Old Catholic Church in Austria and consecrated bishop on October 24, 1948 in St. Salvator's Church in Vienna by the Archbishop of Utrecht Andreas Rinkel .

During his term of office, the relationship between the Old Catholic Church in Austria and the state was significantly better than it was in the Estates Republic and during the National Socialist regime. The federal law of October 26, 1960 on financial contributions to the Old Catholic Church placed its financing on a solid basis. Török won the esteem of leading politicians such as Federal President Adolf Schärf and Karl Renner . In the 1960s, Török wrote a letter to the Roman Catholic Bishops' Conference of Austria and thus began a phase of rapprochement in ecumenism .

While still in bed, he continued his official business , supported by his coadjutor Heinrich Bernauer .

Bishop Stefan Török died on June 5, 1972 in Vienna. He was buried in the Vienna Central Cemetery .

Archbishop Marinus Kok said at the memorial service:

"The task of all of us is first to hold fast to the faith of the old church and to live and act in this world from this belief."

- Marinus Kok, Archbishop of Utrecht : Farewell sermon on June 11, 1972

Fonts

• Handbook for Old Catholic Religious Education in Middle Schools , 3 volumes. Vienna 1933.
• The religious philosophy of Paracelsus and its contemporary historical background. Dissertation.
• Social welfare in Hungary. Volume 2: Results . Budapest 1941.
• The Bible and us. Vienna 1967.
• as editor: 90 years of legal recognition of the Old Catholic Church in Austria. Vienna 1967.

Single receipts

1. ↑ Quoted from Christian Halama-Blankenstein: Bishop Dr. Stefan Török on his 100th birthday. (PDF; 40 kB) (No longer available online.) 2003, p. 5 , formerly in the original ; Retrieved May 29, 2011 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.    

Web links

• Literature by and about Stefan Török in the catalog of the German National Library
• Christian Halama-Blankenstein: Bishop Dr. Stefan Török on his 100th birthday. (PDF; 40 kB) 2003, accessed on May 29, 2011 . 

predecessor	Office	successor
Robert Tüchler	Austrian Old Catholic Bishop 1947–1972	Nikolaus Hummel