The shootings sparked protests in European and American press and turned the world's attention to the treatment of minorities in the Hungarian part of Austria-Hungary.
[citation needed] On the initiative of Andrej Hlinka, the Slovak parish priest of nearby Ružomberok (Rózsahegy) and a native of Černová, people of the city decided to raise money for the construction of a new church.
[3] The locals wanted the church to be consecrated by Hlinka, however, he was at the time suspended by bishop Sándor Párvy and sentenced to two years of imprisonment due to his pan-Slavic agitation during the election campaign of 1906 and the subsequent conviction of incitement.
The bishopric denied their request and two Hungarian-speaking priests were appointed in his stead:[5] first, Canon Anton Kurimsky, and after his refusal, Dean Martin Pazurik of Likavka.
[2] Outnumbered and in panic[8] the gendarme leader sergeant Ján Ladiczky,[9][8] an ethnic Slovak,[10] ordered his squad to open fire into the crowd without prior warning[2] killing 15 of the protesting villagers, seriously wounding 12 and lightly injuring 40.