János Csernoch

Who was János Csernoch?

János Csernoch S.T.D. was a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and Archbishop of Esztergom and Primate of Hungary.

János Csernoch was born in Szakolcza, Kingdom of Hungary, now Skalica, Slovakia. He received minor orders on 22 July 1874, the subdiaconate on July 23, 1874 and the diaconate on 24 July 1874. He was educated at the Collegium Pázmáneum in Vienna and the University of Vienna where he earned a doctorate in theology on June 2, 1876.

In spite of his Slovak ethnic origin and family relations to several Slovak national activists his attitude to the Slovak national movement was ambivalent. He financially supported some Slovak activities and published articles in Slovak newspapers but after 1910 he supported the integrity of the Kingdom of Hungary.