012012 - Prešovská univerzita v Prešove

Baán István
the union by offering his ecclesiastical services to the Greek community.
There might have been a number of such opportunities. The registers
reveal that Theodosius served as priest on 1726 May 15, Varnavas on 1734
September 5, Constantinos between 1736 February 9 and 1738 November
8, Parthenios on 1740 March 4, Seraphim on 1741 February 6, Cyprian
on 1750 November 10, and Annanias on 1755 July 15. 31 However, this
presumable effort at conversion was doomed to fail. In the first place
the proselytizing activities were blocked by the linguistic differences of
the two communities, differences which the liturgy could not overcome.
The Orthodox priest conducted services in Greek, while the Uniate held
their celebrations in church Slavonic. On the other hand the mobility of
the Greek merchants allowed them to visit other Orthodox congregations,
where priests of their own faith could minister to their spiritual needs. The
registers show that during these three decades the Greek Orthodox of
Miskolc were married in the territory of the Ottoman Empire. 32
As a result we might suppose that the aim of the Greek Catholic
parish in Miskolc was primarily missionary activity, but it never succeeded
in this goal. Although the parish formally existed, it lacked its own place
of worship and had become inviable by the middle of the eighteenth
century. The Bishop of Munkács Mihály Olsavszky could also recognize
this fact. Consequently it is not surprising that its cleric the younger István
Ternai, when given the opportunity, moved to the poorer but more
stable, consolidated and financially secure Görömböly. Perhaps the fact
that Miskolc remained an outparish of Görömböly also reflected these
developments.
Bacsinszky’s Debate on the Remodeling
of the Church at Mindszent
Although the parish at Miskolc ceased to exist de jure, the need soon
emerged in the town above all for the construction of a Greek Catholic
church and perhaps even the reintroduction of one or more Uniate clerics.
When András Bacsinszky obtained from Maria Theresa the title of Abbot
of Tapolca and the benefice pertaining to it, which also included the
advowson of the church at Mindszent, he decided to try to satisfy the need
for a Greek Catholic church building in Miskolc. Bacsinszky thought that
rather than build a new church in the town, he would take advantage of
his current situation and employ the easiest solution: remodel the church
at Mindszent to suit the Greek liturgy. 33
31 MOEA, I, 380.
32 MOEA, I, 1.
33 I. Dobrossy and L. Kárpáti, “A mindszenti templom építéstörténete és műtárgyai” [The
History of the Building of the Church at Mindszent and its Treasures], Herman Ottó
Múzeum Évkönyve [Yearbook of the Ottó Herman Museum] 20(1983): 121-145.
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