Angol leírás, sztori

This is a reduced-size bronze version of the marble relief installed at the entrance to the Franciscan Pastoral Center church in the Rózsadomb district of Budapest. It was erected in 2026 through the initiative and donations of Parish Priest László Sándor and the Christian community of Nagyatád.
The bronze version of the relief was created at the instigation of Fr. Milán Lukovics OFM to commemorate seven Franciscan martyrs—men whose causes for beatification are currently underway.
The seven friars depicted on the relief were martyrs of the Franciscan community in the Carpathian Basin; they met their deaths within the grinding machinery of the communist terror regime because they steadfastly upheld their Christian faith and their identity as religious and priests.
As the beatification process nears its conclusion, it is fitting to commemorate their deeds and their steadfastness at the sites associated with their lives and martyrdom. The names of the seven friars appear on a ribbon beneath the relief, listed from left to right in the same order as the figures:

Fr. Krizosztom Körösztös OFM (1900–1944)
Fr. Kristóf Kovács OFM (1914–1944)
Fr. Pelbárt Lukács OFM (1916–1948)
Fr. Szaléz Kiss OFM (1904–1946)
Fr. Zénó Hajnal OFM (1900–1945)
Fr. Bernát Károlyi OFM (1892–1954)
Fr. Rafael Kriszten OFM (1899–1952)

In Nagyatád, we commemorate Fr. Zénó Hajnal (the local Franciscan superior) and Fr. Pál Martincsevits (the parish priest of Gyékényes). Here is a brief account of their story:

During the final phase of the war, Nagyatád found itself in a buffer zone between National Socialist and Soviet troops. As the front line approached, the military ordered the civilian population to evacuate the town. Fr. Zénó Hajnal, the Franciscan superior, stepped forward to lead the people of Nagyatád as they marched out of the town. They headed toward Gyékényes, on the outskirts of which Bulgarian and German troops were confronting one another. On Easter Sunday, Bulgarian soldiers occupied the village house by house. They reached the rectory, from where they ordered out Fr. Pál Martincsevits and Fr. Zénó Hajnal, who had taken shelter there. Upon seeing the two priests—one wearing a cassock and the other a Franciscan habit—a Bulgarian cavalryman turned back, singled them out from the crowd, and shot them dead. Although warned of the danger, the fathers consciously chose to wear their clerical attire because they wanted to signal to the desperate faithful that a priest was present should they wish to go to confession or require spiritual assistance. Of the fleeing Hungarians, they were the only ones executed. Standing by the people and openly identifying with the Church meant accepting martyrdom, and the systematic execution of those wearing clerical garb serves as clear evidence of hatred toward the Church.
Of the seven members of the order, the resting place of only Father Zénó is known.

A brief note on the composition of the relief:
In ecclesiastical art, specific attributes are traditionally available to distinguish between various figures. Lacking these, I had to find another way to characterize the figures. I gathered various prayerful hand gestures and used them to illustrate the distinct personalities of the individuals. These gestures and movements also describe a process—the stages of human life and the journey of spiritual development: - The young monks, stubborn and relying on their own strength, confront trials head-on with arms crossed—a stance of steely resolve. This is a person's initial reaction to an external attack. Such was the defiant stand taken by Father Krizosztom Körösztös and Father Kristóf Kovács; despite orders from the Order's leadership, they refused to abandon the parish in Novi Sad. - The next phase—clinging to the strength of the community and to our fellow human beings—is depicted by Father Pelbárt resting his hand on the shoulder of his friend, Father Szaléz. - Next come gestures representing various states of inner focus and trust directed toward God, reflecting the characteristics of Father Szaléz and Father Bernát; the face of Father Zénó also appears in the background. - At the end of this inner journey, on the right side of the composition, the form of prayer culminates in arms fully outstretched—a gesture of total self-surrender. Father Raphael the Elder was a martyr akin to Christ: he endured horrific torture with a radiant face and complete inner peace. Moreover, the open hand serves as a direct, inviting gesture toward the people standing outside the church door. The soft, flowing lines of the drapery convey the peace and harmony of a presence free from resistance. Two other key organizing principles of the composition are symmetry and so-called "isocephaly" (a convention in depicting the "host of saints" where all figures' heads are aligned at the same height). The symmetrical composition was dictated by the niche-like setting, while aligning the heads at a uniform height effectively conveys the strength of their fraternal bond. The unity and solidarity of the order are further emphasized by the single cord encircling their waists, with its ends hanging down in the center.
The figures are slightly elongated: a heavenly, floating army of saints – that is why they are barefoot – they are not present here in their proper place. Two-dimensional acid-etched motifs can be seen above and below the figures. The barbed wire expressing slavery (Father Pelbárt died in the Gulag) represents the terror manifesting in the earthly world below. The imaginary focus of the gaze of the relief figures, the sun disk appearing in the heavenly, spiritual dimension – the symbol of Christ – provides an answer to this, from which the snapping barbed wire hides itself like a cloud.