A Hungarian Jesuit, Roman Catholic priest, cultural anthropologist, university professor, and pastor to Hungarians abroad. He entered the Society of Jesus in Budapest on July 30, 1930. He completed his novitiate and studies in rhetoric between 1930 and 1933 at Manréza in Zugliget, Budapest, and then studied philosophy in Szeged from 1933 to 1936. He then served for one year as a teacher at the Pius High School in Pécs. Following the 1938 Eucharistic World Congress in Budapest, his order prepared him for the planned Muslim mission in the Middle East. To this end, he was sent to the Middle East for language and cultural studies. He studied Arabic in Beirut, Bikfaya, and Aleppo, and in 1941 he pursued studies in the Turkish language in Istanbul. During his stay in Turkey, he came into contact with Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, the then Apostolic Delegate to Turkey and later Pope John XXIII, whose work he also assisted. In 1943, he moved to Rome, where he completed his studies in Eastern languages at the Pontifical Oriental Institute (Pontificium Institutum Orientale) and then studied theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University. Toward the end of World War II, he also became involved in the Roman activities of Töhötöm Nagy, S.J. In 1945, Serei translated into French a shorter version of Nagy’s memorandum on the political and ecclesiastical situation in Hungary for the Roman leadership of the Society of Jesus. When the document was expanded—one copy of which was intended for Pope Pius XII—Zoltán Alszeghy, S.J., collaborated with Serei on the final French text. On July 30, 1946, he was ordained a priest in Rome at the Jesuit Church of St. Ignatius. In 1947, he earned a licentiate in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University. He was subsequently assigned to Paris, where he served as a university chaplain and also became a member of Action Populaire, the French Jesuits’ social sciences workshop. It was in Paris that he met Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J., whose influence led him to focus increasingly on cultural anthropology. He completed the final stage of his Jesuit formation—the third probation—in Ireland. The Irish Jesuit Archives preserve a group photograph of the Jesuits who completed their tertianship at Rathfarnham Castle in Dublin in 1951–1952, in which “Charles Serei (Hung)” is listed in the front row. He then pursued studies in cultural anthropology at the University of Oxford. He completed his doctoral dissertation in 1957, titled “The Cult of the Mother Goddess in Early Anatolia”; the list of doctoral dissertations at the Department of Anthropology at the University of Oxford lists it under the name C. Serei. On August 15, 1954, he took his solemn Jesuit vows. After completing his doctoral studies, he moved to the United States in 1957. In New York, he became a faculty member at the Jesuit Fordham University, where he taught cultural anthropology. His work in the United States spanned more than two decades, from 1957 to 1978. The interrelationships between religion, culture, and anthropology played a defining role in his scholarly interests. In 1978, he returned to Rome after receiving an invitation to join the Pontifical Gregorian University. In addition to his work as a university professor, he became involved with Vatican Radio, assisting with its English- and Hungarian-language broadcasts. He retired in 1981 but continued his active pastoral ministry. After his retirement, he moved to Cologne, where he became the leader and pastor of the Hungarian Catholic mission. By early 1982, he was already being referred to as the “new Hungarian pastor in Cologne.” During the same period, as a member of a Hungarian delegation, he also met with Cardinal Joseph Höffner, Archbishop of Cologne, to whom he briefed on the situation of the Church in Hungary and the problems facing Hungarians in Transylvania. For about seven and a half years, he served the Hungarian Catholics living in Cologne, Bonn, Düsseldorf, and the surrounding areas. He regularly celebrated Sunday and First Friday Masses, organized and led Lenten retreats, and led pilgrimages to the Marian shrine in Banneux, Belgium. He played a significant role in the renovation and beautification of the Mindszenty Hungarian House in Cologne; its chapel was established through his initiative and collaboration. He also gave a series of lectures in Cologne titled “Culture and Religion.” In 1989, his order assigned him a new post in Innsbruck. He spent the last three years of his life there as a pastor and sought-after confessor. He also became involved in the life of the Hungarian Catholic community in Innsbruck: he was among the priests who celebrated Mass in Hungarian for the local Hungarian faithful. Károly Serei passed away in Innsbruck on November 2, 1992, as a result of a heart attack.

Serei, C.: The Cult of the Mother Goddess in Early Anatolia. DPhil thesis, University of Oxford, 1957.