Father John Lavrih’s life a tale of danger, determination and devotion

Father Lavrih was born in Slovenia, in the former Yugoslavia. The Alps separated his country from Austria and Switzerland. His father was a "small farmer" and a cabinetmaker. Life was hard; there was hardly enough money to feed the family. While he received an elementary education in his village, there was no money for high school or college. Father Lavrih began tutoring three students in all subjects, including French, which he didn’t speak.

"What I did was buy a French primer at a bookstore and study really hard so I kept one lesson ahead of the student who was taking French," Father Lavrih said. "Always tutoring three students, I made it through high school and college."

After college he went into the seminary and was ordained a priest in 1939.

During that decade, Europe was in turmoil with dictators taking over small countries. Nazism, Fascism and Communism toppled weak European monarchies or other forms of government. Italians invaded Yugoslavia and took over control of Slovenia.

Immediately the natives sought to establish underground movements to free their people. During this period as a parish priest, Father Lavrih was active in youth groups called Homeguards. The Italians found this out and arrested him, putting him on trial on trumped-up charges of misleading the youth against the Italian government.

It was scary, he recalled, for he might face a death sentence. But his parishioners saved him with their testimony and by some miracle, he was let go. Then, later, he published in an underground newspaper an article extolling the efforts of freedom fighters. He was arrested again — this time by Germans, who occupied Slovenia after 1943 – and again spent many months in prison.

When the Germans were conquered at the end of the war in 1945, the Communist forces led by Tito were allowed by the allies to take over Yugoslavia with the help of the Russian army.

"This was the worst of all," said Father Lavrih, who told of being arrested by the Communists. This was his third imprisonment. There were 900 resistance fighters held in this prison, among them 28 priests.

"Anyone who did not accept and go along with their beliefs after extended brainwashing was exterminated. Every night three times, they called prisoners out of jails and shot them.

"They were throwing their bodies into deep caves in the forest. Mines were exploded to cover the caves. This was going on every night until only 54 of us were still alive in this particular prison.

"Tito’s forces killed one and half million of our countrymen," Father Lavrih added. "The worst massacre happened immediately after the war, when 12,000 Slovenian people escaped to Austria into the territory occupied by the English army. The English returned to Tito 11,000 of these refugees, under the pretext that they were taking them to camps in Italy. The Communists killed all of them immediately."

Fortunate not to be among them, Father Lavrih went into the countryside far away from the English, and stopped at a rectory where he asked the pastor for asylum.

"He was very gracious and invited me into his home, where I remained for four years, active as an assistant priest," he said.

Still, though, Father Lavrih was not safe.

"The Communist spies from Yugoslavia were everywhere. They caught several refugees and forced them across the border and killed them."

Father Lavrih said that God protected him "in a special way."

Through "all kinds of connections at the Vatican," Father Lavrih learned that Bishop Mark Carroll of Wichita was willing to sponsor some priests. Father Lavrih and Fathers Joseph Kapus and Francis Jerasa applied and were accepted.

On St. Patrick’s Day in 1949, Father Lavrih arrived in Wichita.

Because he spoke no English, Father Lavrih practiced his first sermon aloud in a chapel in a cemetery for two weeks, every day. When he stood up to speak from the pulpit, the people in the church laughed. They had heard him earlier many times and wondered about the "ghost" they heard when visiting graves.

He had preached his first sermon in six months.

During the next several years, Father Lavrih spoke to several organizations and clubs in the area. He told of his experiences in captivity, about the evils of Nazism, Fascism and Communism.

"It sounds ridiculous," Father Lavrih said, "but the most beautiful hours of my life I spent in Communist jail. All facing certain death, I heard the most beautiful confessions in my life in jail. Some prisoners were for years away from God, but death brought them back and I hope I have many saints and martyrs today in heaven helping me."

Father Lavrih said he is extremely happy to have had an opportunity to serve people in Western Kansas. In every parish he found "unmatched people, very cooperative and holy."

"Their kindness and goodness is unsurpassing, ready to do anything for you. They expect you to serve them with joy and generosity. I would not exchange the life in Kansas for anything."