Vilmos Ruzsik, CM, was a Lazarist monk, Roman Catholic priest, missionary, Doctor of Theology, and one of the leading pastors of the Hungarian Catholic émigré community in Western Europe. He spent a significant part of his life in Colombia and France, where he served as a teacher, seminary rector, and pastor to the Hungarian émigré community. In international Hungarian church life, he became particularly well-known as a close associate of Cardinal József Mindszenty: he accompanied the cardinal on his 1975 pastoral visit to Venezuela and Colombia, the story of which he later recounted in his memoirs.
He was born into a farming family in Márianosztra. He completed his high school studies at the Cistercian High School in Budapest, then entered the Lazarist Missionary Congregation. After completing his theological studies, he was ordained a priest on July 12, 1936. As a young priest, he was assigned to Piliscsaba, where he served as a catechist, assistant pastor, and later as parish priest, while also participating in popular missions. He served the parishioners of the town for nearly a decade, until the reorganization of the Church following World War II.
In 1946, he was assigned to the Lazarist monastery on Ménesi Street in Budapest. There, he performed his religious duties and prepared for his missionary work abroad. Following the communist takeover, he left Hungary in 1948 and went to Colombia, where he became a leading figure in local priestly formation for nearly twenty years.
In Colombia, he first taught philosophy at the Lazarist seminary in Bogotá. He subsequently taught at the diocesan seminaries in Garzón, Santa Marta, and Zipaquirá, where he also held leadership positions. As a teacher, spiritual director, and later as rector, he played a role in the formation of numerous Colombian priests. In 1964, he earned a doctorate in theology in Rome; he was subsequently appointed professor at the Major Seminary in Ibagué, where he taught dogmatic theology and fundamental theology.
In 1968, he was transferred to France. From then on, he served as pastor of the Hungarian Catholic mission in Paris, while remaining a member of the Lazarist Order. He became one of the best-known priests among the Hungarian émigré community in France: he regularly visited Hungarian communities in rural areas, led retreats, gave lectures, and played an active role in the life of Hungarian Catholic organizations in Western Europe. In the second half of the 1980s, he also carried out Hungarian pastoral duties on a national level, and from 1991 to 1997, he once again served officially as the chief pastor of the Hungarian Catholic Mission in Paris.
Cardinal József Mindszenty holds a special place in his life. As one of the closest associates of the Prince-Primate living in exile, he helped prepare several of the cardinal’s pastoral trips, and in 1975 he accompanied the cardinal on his journey to Venezuela and Colombia. He served not only as the cardinal’s companion but also as the trip’s organizer and language assistant, and he later recounted the events of that journey in a detailed memoir. His article, “Cardinal Mindszenty’s Last Pastoral Journey,” was published in the journal *Távlatok* and is one of the most important firsthand accounts of the cardinal’s final apostolic journey abroad.
His service to the Hungarian Catholic community in France was recognized with several honors. In 1993, he received the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary, and in 1997, Pope John Paul II awarded him the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice honor. In addition, he was elected honorary president of the Movement of Our Lady of the Hungarians.
She retired in 1997 but remained in contact with Hungarian Catholic communities in France. She passed away in Paris on February 18, 2002. Her death was caused by complications from a cerebral embolism.

Távlatok 2001:6. Mindszenty bíboros utolsó lelkipásztori útja