Rev. Ladislas “Les” Orsy, S.J., was born on July 30, 1921. He did all his first studies from elementary school to high school, and first years of university, in Hungary. He was born in Egres, but the place he grew up and, as it were, marked his life, was Szekesfehervar in Fejer—an ancient city, a thousand years old, originally the capital of Hungary, from where the great kings of Hungary reigned. “I grew up surrounded by the ancient ruins of buildings and it gave me a perspective on history.” Les entered the Society of Jesus in Budapest in 1943, was ordained a priest in 1951, at Eegenhoven, Louvain, Belgium, and took his final vows as a Jesuit in 1960 at Milltown, Dublin, Ireland. After six years in Rome, he was missioned to the United States in 1966.
Les lived a good long life, but his Curriculum Vitae reads like he lived several lifetimes. He held graduate degrees from the Gregorian University in Rome, St. Albert’s College, Louvain, Belgium, and Oxford University in England. His honorary degrees from Holy Cross College, Gonzaga University, Loyola University, New Orleans, and Georgetown University surely display no Jesuit prejudice.
At one time or another, Les was a full-time or visiting professor of theology and canon law, Roman law and philosophy of law, and the philosophy of human rights at the Gregorian University, the Catholic University of America, Fordham University, Georgetown University, Berkeley, the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, and the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome. His more than 60-year career includes serving as a bishops’ expert adviser at the Second Vatican Council and working on the preparation of the new Code of Canon Law, adopted in 1983. Add to this the numerous professional societies to which he belonged, the boards of trustees on which he served, the committees he chaired, and the academic awards he received, and one has to wonder how this one man could ever have published at least a dozen books and more than two hundred articles.
All of this (and there’s lots more!) tells us that Les was an accomplished and internationally recognized expert in various aspects of Law, both Canon and Civil. It does not tell us what a wonderful priest and human being he was. The many friends and colleagues with whom he maintained, warm and tender relationships over the course of many years, would loudly and gladly testify to this. His sensible and common-sense approach to canon law removed the anxiety of many who came to him for advice and put many a student at ease. His canonical expertise kept several New York province congregations on the straight and narrow, and his sense of humor kept the delegates from taking themselves too seriously. A former student and colleague at Georgetown University described him as having a gentle soul with a beautiful and restless mind, adding that his passion and curiosity often sparked the same in his students.
In 2020, after nearly thirty years at the Georgetown Law Center, when his ninety-nine-year-old body began to betray him, he moved to the Colombiere Jesuit Community in Baltimore and then to Murray-Weigel Hall in the Bronx where, as he had in so many places before, endeared himself to those who cared for him or just wandered into his room. He charmed their hearts with that twinkle in his eye and easy conversation. Even in his last days, when he was so frail and weak, he still relished a warm hug from those who were near and dear to him.
A faithful priest of the Vatican II Church, a loyal son of St. Ignatius, a dear friend to so many, and a wonderful human being, we trust that Fr. Les Orsy, S.J., now rests in the warm embrace of the God and Lord whom he so steadfastly served during his 103 years among us. He passed away on April 3, 2025.
