Every year, thousands of worshippers pray at the Holy Spirit Cathedral in Accra, the capital city of Ghana, West Africa.
Brother Paul Lengyel, S.V.D., who had ministered at St. Augustine's Residency in Bay St. Louis since 1986, oversaw construction on the West Africa project, which was finished just before the country, known at the time as the Gold Coast, gained its independence in 1957 and became Ghana.
Lengyel died Sunday. He was 79.
"He directed all the work. It took about six years... and was his greatest accomplishment," said the Rev. Thomas Potts, who also served in Ghana, from 1962 to 1999, before moving to St. Augustine's in Bay St. Louis.
A brother is a person who dedicates his life to God without becoming a priest, and who usually does specific work that is helpful to the church, said Potts.
"Like all missionaries, he suffered from the heat, mosquitoes and malaria. It was part of living in Africa," he said.
Lengyel died Sunday at Lafon Nursing Home in New Orleans, where he lived and received constant nursing care for the last several years.
"I knew of his work... . He was a builder. He built many schools, churches and rectories," Potts said.
The youngest of six siblings, Lengyel first took his vows in his native Hungary. He worked as a builder in Africa for 10 years before moving to America to work in building and maintenance at Divine Word Missionary Institutions in the northeastern United States.
While at St. Augustine's, he maintained the grounds and collected thousands of rosaries.
"He was famous for getting people to give rosaries, and he would send them to new Christians all over the world, to Africa, Asia, South America and so on," Potts said.
Lengyel had no immediate survivors.
"His last brother died several years ago. You see, he was the last of his immediate family," Potts said.
The impact he left, however, lives on.
On a typical Sunday, Potts said, about 500 people attend the Holy Spirit Cathedral in Accra.
