Stephen Pongracz was a Jesuit priest and theologian born in the Principality of Transylvania around 1582. After joining the Society of Jesus in 1602, he studied in Austria and Bohemia before being assigned to Kassa, located in the Kingdom of Hungary. During a period of religious conflict, he and two fellow priests, Melchior Grodziecki and Marko Krizin, were captured by a Calvinist army. Refusing to renounce his Catholic faith, he was executed by beheading in September 1619.
Life and death
Following his ordination, Pongracz served in small towns until the Transylvanian army seized Kassa. The three priests were held at the Jesuit residence until soldiers demanded they convert to Calvinism. Because they refused to apostatize, the soldiers tortured and killed them. Their remains were eventually moved to Nagyszombat in 1636.
Veneration
The Catholic Church recognizes him as a saint. Following a beatification process that began in 1628, he was beatified by Pope Pius X in 1905. He was later canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1995. His feast day is observed on 7 September, though the Jesuit order also commemorates him on 19 January.