János Sárvári (Sasvári), SP, Dr., Piarist monk, Roman Catholic priest, teacher, and later diocesan priest. He was a prominent figure in Hungarian Piarist education before World War II who left Hungary in 1949 following the communist takeover and continued his pastoral ministry in the United States.
He was born on August 13, 1910, in Zsirá. He entered the Piarist Order on August 27, 1929, in Vác, where he chose the religious name Saint Teresa. After taking his simple vows, he continued his theological studies; he took his perpetual vows on September 15, 1935, and was ordained a priest on April 11, 1936. He then studied in Rome from 1936 to 1938, where he earned his doctorate.
Upon his return, he taught at various high schools run by the Piarist Order. He worked as a teacher in Tata from 1939 to 1941, in Kalocsa from 1942 to 1943, in Kecskemét from 1944 to 1945, and in Mosonmagyaróvár from 1946 to 1948. In Mosonmagyaróvár, he also provided spiritual guidance to students at the Academy of Economics and was an active participant in local Catholic public life.
After the communist takeover, his situation became increasingly difficult. In August 1949, he fled to Austria via the “green border” through his family’s vineyard in Zsira. In Vienna, he joined the Piarist Order, which sent him to the United States. Initially, he participated in the educational work of the Hungarian Piarist émigrés in Pennsylvania; later, however, his relationship with the order’s superiors deteriorated, and he gradually distanced himself from the community. According to Piarist recollections, he was a man of a difficult temperament, which contributed to his eventual departure from the order.
In the United States, he first served in Niagara Falls (1951), then in Buffalo (1952), Derby (1953), Lackawanna (1954), and subsequently in Philadelphia (1955–1956) and Devon (1957). During his years in Pennsylvania, he participated in the educational and pastoral work of Hungarian Piarist emigrants. Later, he returned to New York State: he served in Derby in 1958, in Buffalo from 1959 to 1963, and then in East Aurora in 1964. In the Buffalo–Niagara Falls area, he primarily carried out diocesan pastoral duties and presumably also served in parishes with Italian congregations.

In 1970, he requested to leave the order and wished to continue his ministry as a diocesan priest. However, he had little time left to do so, as he died unexpectedly that same year. Sources place the location of his death in the Buffalo or Niagara Falls area, but the exact town remains unclear for the time being.