Cibakháza, Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, currently Hungary — April 18, 1897
Death data:
Dallas, TX, USA — November 14, 1978
Denomination:
Roman Catholic
Ecclesiastical status:
religious
Diocese / Order:
ciszterciek (Ordo Cisterciensis)
Ordination level:
priest
Entry into religious life:
Zirc, Hungary — August 29, 1914
Zirci Ciszterci Apátság
Priestly ordination:
July 31, 1921
Place of burial:
Cistercian Abbey Our Lady of Dallas
Dallas, TX, USA
Biographical data
His parents were Ferencz Barta and Verona Újházi; he had seven siblings. His father was from Cibakház, and his mother was from Kőszeg.
He entered the Cistercian Order in Zirc on August 29, 1914. He was ordained a priest on July 31, 1921. He studied classical philology and French. For the high school in Baja, he built a boathouse and a bathhouse next to the Sugovica branch. In September 1951, he worked for the mining drilling company but continued to live at the parish in Olaszfalu.
He was arrested in the 1950s and sentenced to 14 years for conspiring against the people’s democracy. He was released in 1956 and left the country at that time.
He died of a stroke.
A street in Baja is named after him.
Notes
His grave was previously located at Calvary Hill Cemetery and Mausoleum in Dallas, TX, and was later moved to the Abbey Mausoleum in Irving, TX, in 2017.
Domestic service locations
From
To
Place
Country
Church / institution
Position
1921
1922
Budapest
Hungary
Szent Imre Gimnázium
student teacher
1922
1927
Pécs
Hungary
Nagy Lajos Gimnázium
high school teacher
1927
1950
Baja
Hungary
Ciszterci rendi katolikus gimnázium
High school teacher; deputy principal from 1946 to 1948; assistant headmaster from 1947 to 1950
1950
1950
Zirc
Hungary
Zirci Ciszterci Apátság
teacher at the Oblate School
1950
1953
Olaszfalu, Eplény
Hungary
assistant pastor, day laborer
Foreign service locations
From
To
Place
Country
Church / institution
Position
1956
1956
Heiligenkreuz
Austria
pastor
1957
1957
St. Aegyd am Neuwalde
Austria
high school principal
1957
1958
Bécs
Austria
Mauer, the chaplain
1958
1960
Párizs
France
Hungarian pastor
1960
1978
Dallas, TX
USA
Cistercian Abbey Our Lady of Dallas
Pastor of the Hungarian community, secretary of the abbey, sacristan from 1960 to 1974
Literary activity
Vizitelepünk pedagógiai értelme. In. A ciszterci rend bajai III. Béla Gimnáziumának évkönyve az 1938-1939. iskolai évről. Baja, 1939. 13–44.
Barta József Leonard O.Cist: personal record. In: Historical directory of Hungarian, Hungarian-descended, and Hungarian-speaking clergy serving abroad. Available at: https://www.diaszporalelkipasztorok.hu/persons_v2/view.php?id=47 (accessed: 2026-04-05).
