Franz Jalics (; 16 November 1927 – 13 February 2021) was a Hungarian-born

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

priest and author of books on Christian spirituality.

Life

Jalics was born in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. At a young age, he attended a school for cadets. He had a key spiritual experience while stationed in Germany, and after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, in 1947 he joined the

order. He studied philosophy in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, and later in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. In 1956, he was sent to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, and one year later to

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, to continue his studies. After being ordained as a Roman Catholic priest, he stayed in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, and later became a professor of theology and the spiritual director of young Jesuits. He left

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in 1977, moved first to the United States, and then in 1978 to Gries, Germany, where he gave contemplative retreats. He developed a special method of Christian meditation combining elements of the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola with the

Jesus Prayer The Jesus Prayer, also known as The Prayer, is a short formulaic prayer and is especially esteemed and advocated in Eastern Christianity and Catholicism. There are multiple versions of this prayer, however the most widely used version is as follo ...

. Until 2004, he was the director of ''Haus Gries'', the retreat centre he had founded in Wilhelmsthal,

Upper Franconia Upper Franconia (, ) is a (administrative 'Regierungs''region 'bezirk'' of the state of Bavaria, southern Germany. It forms part of the historically significant region of Franconia, the others being Middle Franconia and Lower Franconia, wh ...

. In 2017, he moved back to Budapest, where he died from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

complications on 13 February 2021, aged 93.

Abduction

While doing social work in a poor neighborhood in Argentina in 1976 during the

Dirty War The Dirty War () is the name used by the military junta or National Reorganization Process, civic-military dictatorship of Argentina () for its period of state terrorism in Argentina from 1974 to 1983. During this campaign, military and secu ...

, Jalics and Orlando Yorio were captured by a death squad, abducted, and held captive for five months. Jesuit Father General Pedro Arrupe in Rome was informed by letter during the abduction. Both Jalics and Orlando Yorio left the Jesuit Order, but were later offered reinstatement to it: Jalics accepted but Yorio did not. On 15 April 2005, a human rights lawyer filed a criminal complaint against Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, S.J.—then the Archbishop of Buenos Aires (and who became

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

in 2013)—as superior in the Society of Jesus of Argentina, accusing him of involvement in the kidnapping. On 15 March 2013, Fr. Jalics made a public statement on the occasion of the election of his former superior, who as Pope had taken the same name (Ferenc is Hungarian for Francis), describing how they met up again years later and had concelebrated

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

together: "" ("I have been reconciled to the events and from my side consider them closed.") Fr. Jalics wished God's providential blessing on the Pope: "" (signed) P. Franz Jalics SJ, 15. März 2013 ("I hope God will bless Pope Francis abundantly in his duties") Fr. Jalics subsequently elaborated on his experiences, in particular how a female lay catechist was culpable for their denunciations, "" ("As I made perfectly clear in my prior statement, we were arrested because of a female catechist, who had at first collaborated with us and then later joined the guerillas hose identity, owing to a translation error, was characterized as male in the earlier statement") The second public statement was issued a week later, on 20 March 2013, also through the Jesuits' German Province.

In fiction

The 2019 film '' The Two Popes'' shows different aspects of the life of Jorge Bergoglio, with Lisandro Fiks playing Jalics. Jalics is shown extensively throughout pivotal moments of Bergoglio's spiritual life, from the moment Bergoglio joins the seminary, to a later scene where Bergoglio tries to make the Jesuits, Jalics among them, stop their work with the poor. The film implies that, though Bergoglio did not denounce him directly, he removed the protection of the Church from Jalics' mission, indirectly leading to Jalics' arrest, imprisonment and torture. Near the end, a scene of reconciliation between Bergoglio and Jalics is shown.

Publications

In English

* ''Contemplative Retreat. An introduction to the contemplative way to life and to the Jesus prayer'' (translated by Lucia Wiedenhöver), Longwood: Xulon Press, 2003, . * ''Called to Share in His Life: Introduction to a Contemplative Way of Life and the Jesus Prayer (a Retreat),'' Mumbai: St Pauls, 2010, * ''The Contemplative Way. Quietly savoring God's presence'' (translated by Matthias Altrichter), New York: Paulist Press, 2011, .

In German

* ''Lernen wir beten: Eine Anleitung, mit Gott ins Gespräch zu kommen'', München: Pfeiffer, 1981 . * ''Kontemplative Exerzitien'', Würzburg: Echter, 1994, . * ''Der kontemplative Weg'', Würzburg: Echter, 2006, . * ''Miteinander im Glauben wachsen: Anleitung zum geistlichen Begleitgespräch''. Aus dem Spanischen von Isabella Jalics, Würzburg: Echter, 2008, . * ''Die geistliche Begleitung im Evangelium'', Würzburg: Echter, 2012, .

In Spanish

* ''Aprendiendo a Orar'', San Pablo 1984, . * ''Ejercicios de contemplación. Introducción a la vida contemplativa y a la invocación de Jesús'', Ediciones Sígueme 1998, . * ''Cambios en la fe'', San Pablo 2007, . * ''El camino de la contemplación'', Paulinas 2010, . * ''Jesús, maestro de meditación: el acompañamiento espiritual en el evangelio'', PPC 2015, . * ''La fase contemplativa de los Ejercicios ignacianos'', Cristianisme i Justícia (Fundació Lluís Espinal) 2018, .

References

External links

* * see the Jálics genealogy in {{DEFAULTSORT:Jalics, Franz 1927 births 1970s missing person cases 2021 deaths 20th-century Hungarian Jesuits Clergy from Budapest Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Hungary Formerly missing people Hungarian expatriates in Argentina Hungarian expatriates in Belgium Hungarian expatriates in Chile Hungarian expatriates in Germany Hungarian expatriates in the United States Hungarian torture victims Kidnapped Hungarian people Kidnappings in Argentina Missing person cases in Hungary Political prisoners in Argentina Pope Francis Prisoners and detainees of Argentina Torture victims of the Dirty War