He was ordained a priest in 1894. In 1904, he was sentenced by the court to one year in prison for forging a private document (he had written his brother’s name on a promissory note), and was subsequently suspended from his ecclesiastical office. On May 25, Bishop Miklós Széchényi issued the following statement: “With a heavy heart, but afflicted by the most intense and bitter sorrow, I inform the Reverend Clergy that Pál Csizmadia, chaplain of Mocs, has been found guilty of the crime of forgery of documents by the Supreme Civil Court and sentenced to imprisonment, and has been suspended from his office and position in accordance with ecclesiastical law.” He fled to the United States to avoid prison, then returned in 1918, but was not given a church position; according to some sources, he spent the remainder of his life in Csorná, on sick leave.