Béla Somfai, S.J., was born in Sárszentmiklós in 1932. Due to the dissolution of religious orders in Hungary, he began his theological studies at the seminary in Eger in 1950, then transferred to the seminary in Veszprém in 1951. After its dissolution in 1952, he began the secret novitiate of the Hungarian Jesuit Province, which was operating in hiding, that fall. After performing manual labor and completing two years of armed military service, he continued his studies as a civilian student at the Theological Academy in Budapest beginning in 1954.

In 1956, at the request of his Jesuit superiors, he left Hungary. He took his first religious vows in Austria in 1957, then studied at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he earned a licentiate in philosophy in 1959. He continued his theological studies in Canada at Regis College in Toronto, in the theological faculty of the Society of Jesus. He was ordained a priest in Toronto in 1961 and completed his studies in 1963 with a Master of Arts (MA) and a licentiate in theology.

He completed the final phase of his Jesuit formation in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1964. He then returned to Canada, where he taught religion and mathematics for two years at the high school of Loyola College in Montreal, followed by one year teaching theology at the college level.

He pursued his doctoral studies in Ottawa. He earned a PhD from the University of Ottawa in 1972 and a Doctor of Theology (D.Th.) from Saint Paul University in 1977. As early as 1969, he was invited to join the faculty of the newly established Toronto School of Theology, where he worked on behalf of Regis College. The institution later became part of the University of Toronto’s graduate theology program. Somfai taught moral theology and bioethics there until 1993. For a time, he served as dean of the School of Theology and as department chair, and in 1982 he was appointed full professor.

His scholarly work focused on moral theology, medical ethics, and bioethics. He was a member of the Research Ethics Committee at the University of Toronto and the Joint Clinical Ethics Committee of Catholic Hospitals, and he also participated in the work of several scholarly societies. From 1975 to 1976, he was a visiting scholar at the Medical College of Georgia in the United States, from 1982 to 1983 at the Institute of Medical Humanities at the University of Montreal, and from 1989 to 1990 at the Bioethics Research Institute at McGill University. He taught as a visiting professor at Saint Louis University, Sophia University in Tokyo, and in Enugu, Nigeria.

His activities in Canada were not limited to university teaching and research; he also became involved in the life of the local Hungarian Catholic communities and, for several years, served as the superior of the Hungarian Jesuits carrying out pastoral ministry in Canada.

In 1993, he retired from the Toronto School of Theology, and after nearly four decades abroad, he returned to Hungary. At the Szeged College of Theology, he became the chair of the Department of Moral Theology and Bioethics and the vice rector for academic affairs. He worked at the institution until 2007. In addition, he taught as a visiting lecturer at Semmelweis University in Budapest and at the University of Szeged’s Faculty of Medicine.

He was a member of the Clinical Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Szeged, the Hungarian Society for Bioethics, and the relevant human reproductive ethics committee of the Health Sciences Council. For six years, he also participated in the work of the National Credit Council of the Ministry of Education.

In 2007, he retired and moved to Budapest. Thereafter, he continued his teaching activities as a professor emeritus and guest lecturer at Sapientia College of Theology.
He became a prominent figure in bioethics education in Hungary and in Catholic medical ethics. His scholarly and popular writings have appeared in publications such as *Vigilia*, *Szolgálat*, *Magyar Szemle*, and *Magyar Tudomány*, among others. His independent works include *Dietrich von Hildebrand’s Thought on Situation Ethics: A Theological Evaluation*, *Bioethics: Sketches*, and *Notes on Sexual Ethics*.

In his later years, he moved back to Canada. From 2014 onward, he lived in Toronto at the Hungarian parish of St. Elizabeth of the House of Árpád, where he performed pastoral ministry as much as he was able; he had also supported the Hungarian community during his earlier years in Canada. After his health began to decline in 2015, he was admitted to the Jesuit nursing home, René Goupil House, in Pickering. He passed away in Pickering on April 6, 2015.

Somfai Béla: Dietrich von Hildebrand’s Thought on Situation Ethics. A Theological Evaluation. University of Ottawa, 1972. Doktori disszertáció.
Somfai Béla: Az emberi élet kémcsőben. Vigilia, 49. évf. (1984) 1. sz., 38–43.
Somfai Béla: A mesterséges életfenntartás jogi és erkölcsi problémái. Vigilia, 50. évf. (1985) 11. sz., 854–858.
Somfai Béla: A születendő ember méltósága. Szolgálat, 72. sz. (1986/4), 21–30.
Somfai Béla: Humanae Vitae. Egy enciklika, amely megosztotta az egyházat. Vigilia, 54. évf. (1989) 11. sz., 836–842.
Somfai Béla: Levelek – válaszok. Vigilia, 55. évf. (1990) 8. sz., 640.
Somfai Béla: Éhhalál vagy jóhalál? Vigilia, 58. évf. (1993) 11. sz., 802–806.
Somfai Béla: Tudomány és lelkiismeret: mi a teendő? Magyar Szemle, új folyam 3. évf. (1994) 4. sz., 389–393.
Somfai Béla: Génsebészet és eugenikai beavatkozás – etikai szemmel. Magyar Szemle, új folyam 3. évf. (1994) 7. sz., 709–712.
Somfai Béla: Igazmondás és hazugság a keresztény erkölcstan fényében. Magyar Szemle, új folyam 3. évf. (1994) 12. sz., 1290–1309.
Somfai Béla: Bioetika. Vázlatok. Szeged, 1995.
Somfai Béla: Katolikus tanítás a háborúról és a békéről. Vigilia, 60. évf. (1995) 5. sz., 322–328.
Somfai Béla: Az élet evangéliuma és a „kegyes halál” kegyetlensége. Vigilia, 60. évf. (1995) 7. sz., 495–499.
Béla Somfai: [Recenzió] Philip Lyndon Reynolds: Marriage in the Western Church: The Christianization of Marriage during the Patristic and Early Medieval Periods. Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses, 28. évf. (1999) 2. sz., 245–246.
Somfai Béla: Etikai kérdések a genetikában. Magyar Tudomány, 45. évf. (2000) 5. sz., 586–596.
Somfai Béla: Ami a püspöki kar körleveléből kimaradt. Vigilia, 65. évf. (2000) 8. sz., 579–586.
Somfai Béla: Szexuáletikai jegyzetek. Budapest, 2003.
Ferencz Attila – Kosztolányi György – Falus András – Kellermayer Miklós – Somfai Béla – Jelenits István – Hámori Antal: Biogenetika és etika. 2005.