He completed his high school studies at the Cistercian Order’s Nagy Lajos High School in Pécs. He graduated in 1997 and then earned a degree in computer engineering from the Mihály Pollack Faculty of Engineering at the University of Pécs.
He entered the order in 2001. He completed his theological studies at the Veszprém College of Theology, while simultaneously earning a degree in computer science education from the Pollack Mihály College of Engineering.
He made his solemn vows on August 18, 2007, and was ordained a priest on June 28, 2008. On June 13, 2018, the Zirc community elected him abbot. His solemn benediction took place on September 15, 2018.
On May 15, 2023, the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life appointed Abbot General Mauro Giuseppe Lepori as papal commissioner for the Zirc Abbey. He was suspended from his duties as abbot and parish priest with immediate effect and assigned to the Abbey of Dallas due to financial irregularities at the Zirc Abbey and the schools maintained by the Order, where he spent about three months, before returning home and requesting approval to leave the order and be laicized in 2024. Pope Francis approved this in 2024 and granted him lay status.
According to some sources, he is currently (in 2025) in Canada; according to others, he is in Budapest.
Domestic service locations
From
To
Place
Country
Church / institution
Position
2009
2012
Zirc
Hungary
Zirci Ciszterci Apátság
Director of a nursing home, Assistant Director, Grants Coordinator, Deputy Director; Director General of Education since June 2011
2012
2017
Pécs
Hungary
Nagy Lajos Gimnázium
Religious education and computer science teacher, pastor
2017
2018
Zirc
Hungary
Zirci Ciszterci Apátság
slash
2018
2024
Zirc
Hungary
Zirci Ciszterci Apátság
abbot (suspended from his duties as abbot in 2023)
Foreign service locations
From
To
Place
Country
Church / institution
Position
2024
—
Dallas, TX
USA
Cistercian Abbey Our Lady of Dallas
designated place of residence, pastor (who conducts the monthly Hungarian Masses)
Literary activity
The ruins and reconstruction of the medieval Cistercian Abbey of Zirc, in: Architektus Nr. 2 (24), 2008, S. 5–17.
Bérczi László Bernát O.Cist, apát: 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=79 (accessed: 2026-04-05).