Géza Pázmány, Sch.P. (Budapest, September 19, 1929 – Devon, Pennsylvania, USA, November 23, 2024) was a Hungarian Piarist monk, Roman Catholic priest, and teacher who spent the vast majority of his life in the United States. As a victim of persecution under the communist dictatorship, he served a long prison sentence and was subsequently forced into exile, where, as a member of the Piarist Order, he served the Church and the cause of Catholic education for more than six decades.

He was born in Budapest on September 19, 1929. He completed his high school studies at the Benedictine high school in Győr. In 1948, he entered the Cistercian Order and began his novitiate in Zirc. Following the dissolution of the religious orders in 1949, he became a seminarian in the Diocese of Veszprém, continued his theological studies at the Veszprém Seminary until 1951, and then, from 1951 to 1953, studied as a student at the Pázmáneum in Vienna and at the University of Vienna.

Driven by a strong longing for his homeland, he returned to Hungary in the summer of 1953 to visit his former teachers and friends. On their advice, he attempted to return to Austria, but was apprehended at the Hungarian–Austrian border. The State Security Authority classified him as a Western agent and spy, arrested him, and also arrested several people with whom he had come into contact, including Artisztid Kovács, the principal of the Benedictine high school, and Ernő Csizmadia. In 1954, the Budapest Military Court sentenced Géza Pázmány to fifteen years, Ernő Csizmadia to twelve years, and Artisztid Kovács to ten years in prison on charges of espionage. According to sources, authorities later sought to increase his sentence, but following the events of the 1956 Revolution, he managed to escape, leave Hungary, and flee to Austria.

In Austria, he reevaluated his calling to the priesthood and monastic life. He was already familiar with the mission of the Piarists, which centered on the education of young people, so on September 8, 1957, he entered the American novitiate of the Piarist Order in Derby, New York. He took his simple vows on September 9, 1958, after which he moved to Washington, D.C., where he continued his theological studies at The Catholic University of America. He took his perpetual vows on May 16, 1961, and was ordained a priest on June 3, 1961.

He arrived permanently in the United States in 1963. He spent the vast majority of his ministry as a priest and teacher at Devon Preparatory School in Pennsylvania, where he taught theology and mathematics. His ministry was interrupted only by a few brief periods: from 1968 to 1969, he served at the Piarist formation house in Vienna, from 1978 to 1979 he was a member of the Piarist community in Derby, and from 1979 to 1980 he worked as a mathematics teacher at Calasanctius School in Buffalo, before returning to Devon in 1980.

In addition to teaching, he played an active role in the school’s community life. For many years, he drove the school’s sports team bus, and his faithful dog, Joey, regularly accompanied him on these trips. During his priestly ministry, he assisted at numerous parishes and religious communities, and he also cared for his elderly and sick fellow priests with great devotion.

He spent the final years of his life at Devon Senior Living in Pennsylvania. Despite his health condition, he continued to participate in pastoral ministry to the best of his ability and regularly concelebrated Mass in the facility’s chapel on Saturdays.