Historical directory of Hungarian, Hungarian-descended, and Hungarian-speaking clergy serving abroad

Balogh János Benignusz OFM

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Deceased

Birth data:: Kecskemét, Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, currently Hungary — March 26, 1903
Death data:: Lansing, MI, USA — March 23, 1970
Denomination:: Roman Catholic
Ecclesiastical status:: religious
Diocese / Order:: ferences (Ordo Fratrum Minorum) (Kapisztrán kusztódia)

Ordination level:: religious brother (not ordained priest)
Entry into religious life:: April 5, 1924
Perpetual vows:: September 1, 1929
Place of burial:: Roebling, NJ, USA

Biographical data

János Benignusz Balogh, OFM, was born on March 26, 1903, in Kecskemét. He entered the Capistran Custody of the Franciscan Order on April 5, 1924. He began his novitiate in 1925 and took his perpetual vows on September 1, 1929. He served in the Order not as a priest but as a lay brother.

Baja was a well-known station of his ministry in Hungary. In 1931, he moved to the United States, where he became an active participant in Hungarian Franciscan and Catholic community life.

Between 1935 and 1955, he worked at St. Ladislaus Church in New Brunswick, where, as the founding director of the St. Imre Youth Club, he carried out significant community organizing work. Later, he lived and served as a friar in the DeWitt area of Michigan.

He passed away on March 23, 1970, in Lansing, Michigan. His grave is located in Roebling, New Jersey.

Domestic service locations

From	To	Place i	Current name, country i	Church / institution	Position
1929	1931	Baja, Kingdom of Hungary	Hungary		monk

Foreign service locations

From	To	Place	Current name, country	Church / institution	Position
1935	1955	New Brunswick, NJ, USA		Szent László R. K. Egyházközség	Founding Director of the Saint Imre Youth Club
1955 after		Dewitt, MI, USA			monk

Life timeline

Birth

March 26, 1903

Kecskemét, Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, currently Hungary

Entry into religious life

April 5, 1924

Perpetual vows

September 1, 1929

Service in the homeland

1929 – 1931

Baja, Kingdom of Hungary, currently Hungary

monk

Service abroad

1935 – 1955

New Brunswick, NJ, USA

Szent László templom

Founding Director of the Saint Imre Youth Club

Service abroad

1955

Dewitt, MI, USA

monk

Death

March 23, 1970

Lansing, MI, USA

Sources

OFM-K-1994: 40.
KMV: 1954-10-17.; pp. 3.
Szolgálat 6. (1970), pp. 96.
https://library.hungaricana.hu/hu/view/FERENCES_tabula_1942/?pg=26&layout=s✕

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Citation for this entry

Balogh János Benignusz OFM: 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=39 (accessed: 2026-07-07).

Last modified: May 6, 2026 14:54 | Opened: 97 times