His parents were Ödön Csányi, a lawyer, and Edit Sztankovics, a schoolteacher. He entered the order on August 29, 1949. On September 5, 1950, he left the country along with 19 other young Cistercian monks and successfully reached Rome, where he earned his doctorate. He completed his studies at the Pontificio Ateneo e Collegio Sant’Anselmo (Rome); Pontificia Università Gregoriana (Rome); École biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem; and Pontificio Istituto Biblico (Rome). Meanwhile, he took his first vows on June 22, 1950, and his final vows on January 1, 1954. He was ordained a priest by Apostolic Administrator Paulus Rusch of Innsbruck in the abbey church of Stams on June 29, 1954. He celebrated his first Mass in Mariazell on July 4, 1954. He lived in the United States beginning in 1959. After 1977, he left the order and married. Following his departure, he served as a pastoral assistant in the Diocese of Fort Wayne–South Bend, IN. Decree No. 461/76 of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, dated May 21, 1976, restored him to lay status. He retired in 1996.

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The rediscovery of the Bible within the context of the twentieth century renewal of the Catholic Church. 1972.
„Az Emberfia azért jött, hogy szolgáljon”, Szolgálat 20. (1973), 18–29.
A papi továbbképzés fejlődése az Egyesült Államokban, Szolgálat 22. (1974), 74–77.