Budajenő, Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, currently Hungary — April 2, 1908
Death data:
New York, NY, USA — September 14, 1994
Denomination:
Roman Catholic
Ecclesiastical status:
religious
Diocese / Order:
jezsuita (Societas Jesu)
Ordination level:
priest
Entry into religious life:
September 5, 1930
Perpetual vows:
February 2, 1945
Priestly ordination:
Sanghaj, Kína — May 31, 1941
Other name used:
Hua Ku Szen-Nán-Min
Biographical data
He entered the order on September 5, 1930. He spent his probationary period and his year of rhetoric at Manréza. He studied philosophy in Szeged from 1934 to 1936 and in Budapest in 1937. His calling to the mission field grew stronger, so in 1937 he set out for a mission in China. He completed his theological studies in Shanghai, at Ziakwei (Hszücsiahuj). He was ordained a priest in Shanghai on May 31, 1941. In 1943, he served as a pastor in Taming, then completed his third probationary year in Ahwei, where he took his final vows on February 2, 1945.
From 1949 to 1952, he served as a student chaplain at Aurora University in Shanghai. His Chinese name: Hua Ku Sen-Nan-Min
He was arrested in 1952 and deported from China on May 16, 1954. He settled first in Canada and then in the United States. From 1955 to 1956, he served as a pastor and lay missionary at the Hungarian parish in Courtland. In 1957, he taught religion and German for a year in Rochester, New York. Afterward, however, he began his true calling: he became a missionary and led retreats. He carried out these duties in Rochester until 1960, continuing from Fordham University in New York, based in Morristown from 1966 to 1969 and in Auriesville from 1970 to 1973. After that, as a sought-after retreat director, he continued solely in this role from 1974 to 1976 in Jersey City, from 1977 in Morristown, and from 1990 in the Bronx. He died in New York in 1994.
Havas János SJ: personal record. In: Historical directory of Hungarian, Hungarian-descended, and Hungarian-speaking clergy serving abroad. Available at: https://www.diaszporalelkipasztorok.hu/persons_v2/view.php?id=371 (accessed: 2026-05-06).