Sister Pia Gombos: 1917 – 2009
Sr Pia, Maria Gombos, was born in a little village near Gyor in Hungary. She remained all her life deeply attached to her homeland, though destined from early youth to live always in exile. Her family lived a little distance from Gyor and as a young girl, Pia was sent to the Ursuline convent in the town centre for her schooling. This was a substantial foundation in the continental style, a spacious property with a large community and a prestigious school established to educate the daughters of the middle class.
Her mother's sister had entered the community at an earlier time, but died at a very young age, and her tomb is still to be seen in the convent burial vault. Pia went as a boarder, and then, she in her turn, entered the community, just before the second world war in 1941. She took a degree in Physics at the university, but although she showed considerable promise, her formal teaching career in the classroom was short-lived.
At the end of the war in 1945, Hungary, as an ally of Germany, was overrun by Russian troops. The border to the west was sealed. The convents were closed and religious practice became illegal. A group of young sisters, Pia among them, managed at this critical point to escape from the country and find their way to France. Here, Pia officially classed as a refugee, joined the community at Pau, a little town at the foot of the Pyrenees. She arrived in 1947 and was to live there for the next 15 years.
At that period, less urgency was attached to mastering a new language and Pia was not an ardent linguist. She learnt French and much later English – she was even to pass the written English exams offered by Pitmans at elementary and intermediate level, but her grasp of the spoken word remained halting and inadequate. This had unfortunate consequences which were largely taken for granted, it relegated her to the fringes of every event and for the rest of her life, lack of fluency remained a constant obstacle.
Then in 1956 came the Hungarian Rising – the valiant attempt by her fellow countrymen to wrestle back their freedom from the ever harsher domination of the Russians. The border to the west opened briefly and floods of refugees poured out. A considerable number found their way to England and settled in the London area. It took a while for them to find housing and employment, but as they settled they needed a focus for their cultural identity and this came to centre on Mindzenty House, west of Hammersmith. Here it was that they looked for support and encouragement. Pia was far away in Pau, until one day - out of a clear blue sky - she was asked to come to London to help them. It was 1962 and it proved to be her true calling.
Language was no longer a barrier and in this Hungarian setting she came into her own. For over 35 years this was her life, travelling purposefully across London, wherever she was needed and in all weathers. Regularly to Mindzenty House in the West but also out to Essex or over to Croydon, leaving the convent at Greenwich early in the day and returning late in the evening. Sr Pia organised her days quietly and unobtrusively, so that few people had much idea of her undertakings.
But among her people, her personality blossomed. She was a valued teacher, an inventive organiser, artistic and creative. More than that, she was warmhearted and sympathetic, joyous and companionable. She kept alive the traditions of her country and gave the exiles a sense of home in an alien environment. A number found their way to Greenwich to visit her, and the highlight of the year was always the feast of St Nicolas, a special celebration for the English-born children of these Hungarian parents.
As the years went by, the original refugees encountered the difficulties of ageing. Pia remained faithful to them, developing an extensive telephone apostolate and visiting them in their homes. Restrictions on travelling to Hungary also eased and she was able to meet up with her sister and become acquainted with the younger generations of her family. She loved to be at the centre of Hungarian pilgrimages - to Fatima, to Rome, to Cardinal Mindzenty's tomb and always her prayers were in Hungarian. She had a little black prayer book always at hand, with her favourite devotions, a picture of the miraculous Virgin in the church at Gyor, and a constant range of Hungarian literature, filled with the life of the church.
Every evening she tuned in to Vatican Radio for the Rosary in Hungarian and remained constantly alert for news of her people and their fortunes. She became naturalised as a British citizen in 1970. This removed the ambiguity of being a refugee, but at heart nothing changed. She was always Hungarian.
On her death, she willed that her ashes be taken back to belong once more to her native country.