Sándor Barna’s parents were István Barna and Ida Zsóka. He began his studies at a Roman Catholic seminary in Eger and completed his theological training at the Greek Catholic Theological College in Nyíregyháza. Endre Kriston, Auxiliary Bishop of Eger, tonsured him on December 21, 1951; ordained him a lector on October 26, 1952; and ordained him an exorcist and acolyte on March 14, 1954.

In 1957, he changed rites, returning to the Greek Catholic rite. The fact that he was ordained a priest while married suggests that he was originally Greek Catholic, since as a Roman Catholic priest he could only have been ordained if he were unmarried.

On August 6, 1958, he was ordained a subdeacon, and on the same day, a deacon. He was ordained a priest on August 10, 1958. He was a married priest; his wife was Olga Béres, and their children were Sándor, Gabriella, and Angelika. He lived in Canada from 1973 onward. He held a dispensation, which allowed him to celebrate Mass according to the Roman Rite as well.