Péter Mustó SJ, member of the Jesuit community of Dobogókő, Hungary, passed away at the age of 89. The former missionary to South America, social apostle, pastoral leader and spiritual writer, popular in Hungary as well as in Germany and Colombia, died on 6 August in Hildesheim, Lower Saxony, Germany.

Péter Mustó was born on 25 January 1935 in Derecse, Hungary. His family fled to Western-Europe in 1944 to escape the front, and he went to high school in Germany. In 1953, after graduating from high school, he joined the Hungarian Province of the Society of Jesus. He studied in France and Germany and was ordained a priest in 1963.

From 1965 to 1977 he was a youth pastor in Munich. In the 1960s, in the spirit of the Second Vatican Council, he turned his interest to people of other religions, dissidents and the wounded of the welfare society. „Whether we see God, whether we recognise God, depends on the heart and the inner attention with which we look at our fellow human beings”, he said.

In 1977-1978, he backpacked through South America from Mexico to Bolivia to learn about the initiatives of the Latin American church and monks to support the most disadvantaged people. In 1978-1979, he was a worker-priest in Berlin, supporting himself by washing dishes in restaurants. „What gives you security, for example material resources, connections, can also tie you down, and can constrict you. When you give them up, you not only experience vulnerability, but also freedom”, he wrote later.

From 1979 to 1991, he worked in the Colombian mission as a missionary and social worker with the poor, the destitute and the marginalised. He first worked with the Salesians and then shared his life with street children in a family atmosphere in a small house made of simple prefabricated elements. „For me it has always been important to be present where I am. Throughout my life, it has always been more important than anything I have ever thought or done”, he said. 

He later moved to a poor neighbourhood in Bogotá. After a while, it became clear to him that the root of the problem was much deeper: preventing children from ending up on the streets. So he set up a day care centre called Casa Estudio. He has written several books about his experiences in South America (Between Hope and Despair on the Streets of Bogotá; Letters from South America).

After the regime change in 1990, he returned to Hungary: first in Szeged, then in Dobogókő, he lived and served as a widely known pastoral leader and retreat leader. He said: „It is not my talks which I find satisfying in retrospect that are really useful to those whom I guide in my retreats. It is the ones that make the participants realise that I am on the road as well, that I am not more than they are, that I cannot express everything well.” 

He regularly led silent meditation retreats in Hungary and Germany. His books on spirituality are popular (Life is born in silence. Experiences of inner prayer; Loving what is yours; Where you are at home). In 2013, he was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit together with his master, Ferenc Jálics SJ for creating a culture of spiritual meditation and for developing a unique method in the field of spiritual healing.