Father Imre Kozma, a Catholic priest, the founding president of the Hungarian Maltese Charity Service, the former head of the Hospital Mercy Order in Hungary, has died at the age of 85, the Hungarian Maltese Charity Service announced.
Imre Kozma was born on June 4, 1940 in Győrzámoly. He graduated from the Benedictine high school in Győr and then applied for a priestly seminary. His decision meant a serious commitment, since in 1958 young people who chose the priestly profession could certainly expect that the state security authority would harass and persecute them.
Father Imre Kozma was ordained a priest in 1963.
His first station was in Tát-Dorogbánya, then he was transferred to Budapest. Between 1968 and 1977, he served in the St. Péter church in Alkantar on Ferenciek Square. His outspoken sermons, with an unusual tone, appealed to many people, and the church was filled to overflowing during his speeches at the conference for young adults.
Father Imre Kozma was produced and interrogated numerous times during these years, and several members of his audience were dragged away and expelled from the university.
The next stop in his career was the parish church of the Holy Family in Zugliget. In his religion classes attended by hundreds, he taught that Christianity is not a theory, but a practice, that we must live our faith outside the walls of the church in everyday life. The members of the community had to undertake specific helping tasks, and this is when the volunteer network was formed, which later formed the basis of the Hungarian Charity Service of Malta.
As the founding president of the Hungarian Maltese Charity Service, which was established in 1989, he organized care for the poor, elderly and homeless people.
In the garden of the church in Zugliget, he opened the first refugee camp for the East German families gathered in Budapest, thereby starting the largest humanitarian operation in Europe at the time, during which 48,000 refugees were accepted in Hungary. During the Romanian revolution, he delivered aid supplies to the settlements in need, during the South Slavic war, the organization he led transferred hospital wards, residential institutions and a large number of civilians to Hungary. Hundreds of volunteers responded to his calls, while local groups of the Hungarian Maltese Charity Service were established across the country.
In three and a half decades, the Charity Service has become one of the largest charitable organizations in Hungary, which has built up a network of social, educational and health care services, taking care of an average of 17,000 people a day in its institutions and volunteer groups.
In 1997, Father Imre Kozma requested admission to the Nursing Mercy Order, which strengthened under his leadership and became a significant player in health care with its hospitals. He became a monk at the age of fifty-seven, by which time most people are already planning their retirement, he aimed to revive medicine with a Christian approach, and led the domestic organization of the order until he was 82 years old.
In the latter part of his career he was as energetic as in his youth. In 2013, in preparation for the fiftieth anniversary of his ordination as a priest, he went through the stations of his priestly service on foot. At the age of 73, he made a 140-kilometer pilgrimage accompanied by a fellow monk.
His activities have been recognized with prestigious awards more than thirty times. In 1996, he was elected Man of the Year, in 2003 he was awarded the Central Cross of the Hungarian Republic, in 2005 he received the Prima Primissima award, in 2010 he was awarded the French Order of Honor, in 2016 his life work was recognized with the Citizen of Europe Award, and several municipalities granted the title of honorary citizen to father Imre Kozma.
Cover image: Father Imre Kozma, deceased
Source: Hungarian Maltese Charity Service
