Budapest, Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, currently Hungary — August 7, 1912
Death data:
South Bend, IN, USA — September 27, 1993
According to another source: September 23, 1993
Denomination:
Roman Catholic
Ecclesiastical status:
diocesan
Diocese / Order:
Esztergom-Budapest (korábban: Esztergom) (1957-ig) → Fort Wayne – South Bend, IN
Ordination level:
priest
Priestly ordination:
Esztergom, Kingdom of Hungary, currently Hungary — June 21, 1936
Magyarok Nagyasszonya és Szent Adalbert Főszékesegyház
Place of burial:
Hungarian Sacred Heart Cemetery
South Bend, IN, USA
Other name used:
Rev. Elmer G. Peterson
Biographical data
Gedeon Péterffy was born on August 7, 1912, in Budapest. As a student at the Central Seminary, he completed his theological studies at Pázmány Péter University, and was ordained a priest on June 21, 1936, in Esztergom for the Archdiocese of Esztergom. From 1936 to 1938, as a scholarship recipient of the Hungarian Pontifical Institute, he studied moral theology at the Angelicum in Rome. After returning home in 1938, he served as an assistant pastor in Budapest’s Erzsébetváros district; from 1939 onward, he worked as a university chaplain and a Scout leader. In 1942, he became vice-rector of the Central Seminary, and from 1942 to 1944, he also taught religion at the teacher-training college of the Ranolder Institute. During the Siege of Budapest, he and Rector Mihály Marczell hid and cared for persecuted people in the seminary building. In February 1945, he walked to Esztergom to inform Cardinal Jusztinián Serédi about the situation in Budapest.
In 1946, he became the Roman representative of the Hungarian episcopate, and in 1947, he became rector of the Pontifical Hungarian Institute. In this capacity, he played an important role in finding placements for those Hungarian priests who, following the war and the communist takeover, were unable or unwilling to return to Hungary. In 1951, he himself left for the United States, where he was incardinated into the Diocese of Fort Wayne–South Bend. In South Bend, he served as a Hungarian parish priest and was also listed in American sources under the name Elmer G. Peterson. In addition to providing pastoral care for the Hungarian community, he organized radio and cultural activities and worked to preserve Hungarian identity. He retired in 1980 but remained in South Bend. He passed away in South Bend on September 27, 1993.
Domestic service locations
From
To
Place i
Current name, country i
Church / institution
Position
1938
Budapest, Kingdom of Hungary
Hungary
Erzsébetváros
assistant pastor
1939
1942
Budapest, Kingdom of Hungary
Hungary
Pázmány Péter Tudományegyetem
university chaplain, scout leader
1942
1946
Budapest, Kingdom of Hungary
Hungary
Központi Papnevelő Intézet
Vice Rector, Bursar, and also a religion teacher at the Ranolder Teacher Training Institute (between 1942 and 1944)
Foreign service locations
From
To
Place
Current name, country
Church / institution
Position
1936
1938
Róma, Italy
Pontificia Università San Tommaso D’Aquino
moral studies (as a scholarship recipient at the Pontifical Hungarian Institute)
1946
1951
Róma, Italy
Pápai Magyar Intézet
Director, Roman Agent/Administrator of the Hungarian Episcopal Conference
1951
1993
South Bend, IN, USA
Szent István Plébánia
parish priest, retired since 1983
Literary activity
Tóth Tihamér. Élet- és jellemrajz. Bp., 1940. - A háború. Uo., 1941. (Szt Tamás tanításának patrisztikus forrásai) - A regula és Szt Tamás. A bencés szellem hatása Szt Tamás gondolatvilágára. Uo., 1941. (uaz) - Ifjúságunk és az egyh. Uo., 1941. - A mi Istenünk. Uo., 1942. - A tevékeny élet. Tomista hivatásetika. Uo., 1942. (Szt Tamás patrisztikai írásai) - Rome éternelle dans l'Europe nouvelle. Uo., 1942. - Szt Tamás és az Atyák. Uo., 1942. (Szt Tamás patrisztikai írásai) - Bűnbánat és ártatlanság. (STh. II-II. 106. 2.) Uo., 1944. (Szt Tamás tanulm-ok) - De profundis... Elmélkedések. Uo., 1944. - Il Cardinale Mindszenty. La vita e l'anima d'un martire. Roma, 1949. - Írói neve 1947 után: Elmer G. Peterson.
