Cyril and Methodius veneration in the Košice diocese with regard to the documents of the local and Universal Church in the first half of the 20th century
Češčenje Cirila in Metoda v škofiji Košice v luči dokumentov lokalne in vesoljne Cerkve v prvi polovici 20. stoletja

english

2026

volume 86, issue 2

associations   bishop   congresses   Cyril-Methodist veneration   pastoral activities

Univerza v Ljubljani, Teološka fakulteta
(Obvezni izvod spletne publikacije)

The Cyril-Methodist tradition could not develop undisturbed in the territory of present-day Slovakia before 1918, because it carried with it a dangerous Pan-Slavism for the Hungarian political and church elites. Slovaks were gradually inspired by the Cyril-Methodist veneration in Moravia, where annual conventions were held in Velehrad, which made it possible to spread Cyril-Methodist ideas and unionism. Veneration of St. Cyril and Methodius began to develop more intensively in Slovakia only after 1921, after the consecration of the first Catholic bishops, who came from Slovakia. Devín Castle became the center of this cult. In the first half of the 20th century, the Košice diocese was headed by two important bishops – Augustín Fischer-Colbrie and Jozef Čársky. As a bishop, Jozef Čársky (of Slovak origin) was intensively involved in developing Cyril-Methodist veneration, which enabled him to mobilize his diocese for many pastoral activities such as: associations, celebrations, congresses, lectures, collections, homilies, pilgrimages, church constructions, and others. Thanks to the pastoral activities of these bishops, the Košice diocese not only preserved Cyril-Methodist veneration, but also developed and expanded it.

13.10.2026