Torok (Rt. Rev.), John. Papers

PP-00-R0086

The Archives of the Episcopal Church

Fonds

Torok (Rt. Rev.), John. Papers

• 1888-1956 (Creation)

2.4 cu.ft. (3 boxes)

John Torok was a Hungarian-born priest in the Uniate Church who came to the United States in 1920 and was received into the Episcopal priesthood by Bishop Murray of Maryland the following year. In 1921, after six months of service at Mt. Calvary Episcopal Church in Baltimore, he was transferred to the Diocese of Fond du Lac where he served for over a year. In 1923, a group of Uniate churches in Pittsburgh elected him bishop, expecting that he would lead them out of the Roman Catholic communion and into the Episcopal Church. Torok was consecrated Oct. 19, 1924, at the Serbian Legation Chapel in Vienna. After much canvassing on his behalf by Bishop Frank Wilson of Eau Claire, among others, Torok was elected Suffragan Bishop of Eau Claire in May of 1934, however General Convention declined to confirm Torok’s consecration.

The Papers of John Torok consist primarily of correspondence with some legal or ecclesiastical documents. Torok’s correspondence centers largely on his own efforts to serve as an ordained person in the U.S. Episcopal Church. The material has value to understanding the complexity in ecumenical relationships in the inter-war period. The various legal, diplomatic, medical, and academic documents, including depositions, transcripts of an interrogation that Torok received at the hands of the Economic Warfare division in 1942, and the confession of William Emhardt of the National Council regarding his attempt to undermine Torok in 1924.

Torok’s writings in this collection are primarily ecclesiastical and relate to Count Michael Karolyi, who was briefly the leader of the First Hungarian People’s Republic, 1918-1919. Torok had served under him in the State Department.

Correspondence, 1888-1955
Legal, Ecclesiastical, Diplomatic, Medical, and Academic Documents, 1859-1956
Writings of John Torok and Count Michael Karolyi, n.d.
Miscellaneous Materials, n.d.

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The Archives is able to respond to limited requests for reproductions subject to copyright restrictions, internal policy, and the condition of the source documents.

• English
• French
• German
• Hungarian

Papers of the Rt. Rev. Frank Wilson [including Records of the Commission on Ecclesiastical Relations], 1914-1943.

• Ecumenical movement
• Orthodox Eastern Church

• Hungary

• Morehouse, Clifford P. (Subject)
• Wilson, Frank E. (Subject)
• Torok, John (Subject)

• Photographs