Andrej Hlinka was born in 1864 at Černová, then a village of small farmers four kilometres west of the town centre, and was ordained in 1889. In 1905 the parishioners of Ružomberok elected him their parish priest — against the wishes of his bishop, Sándor Párvy of Spiš, which tells you most of what you need to know about that relationship. In the elections of 1906 Hlinka campaigned for the Slovak candidate Vavro Šrobár; in June 1906 he was convicted of incitement against the Hungarian nationality and sentenced to two years, and the bishop suspended him from priestly duty. So by the autumn of 1907 the parish had a priest whom the state had convicted and the church had silenced, and a congregation that had chosen him anyway.Andrej Hlinka sa narodil v roku 1864 v Černovej, vtedy dedine drobných gazdov štyri kilometre západne od centra mesta, a v roku 1889 ho vysvätili za kňaza. V roku 1905 si ho ružomberskí veriaci zvolili za farára — proti vôli jeho biskupa, spišského Alexandra Párvyho, čo o ich vzťahu povie takmer všetko. Vo voľbách roku 1906 agitoval Hlinka za slovenského kandidáta Vavra Šrobára; v júni 1906 ho odsúdili za poburovanie proti maďarskej národnosti na dva roky a biskup ho suspendoval z kňazskej služby. Na jeseň 1907 tak mala farnosť kňaza, ktorého štát odsúdil a cirkev umlčala — a veriacich, ktorí si ho aj tak vybrali.
