Fiume, Olasz Királyság, currently Rijeka, Croatia — August 28, 1924
Death data:
Kern, CA, USA — August 27, 1996
Denomination:
Roman Catholic
Ecclesiastical status:
diocesan
previously: religious
Diocese / Order:
ciszterciek (Ordo Cisterciensis) (1980-ig) → Dallas, TX, USA
Ordination level:
priest
Entry into religious life:
October 12, 1948
First (temporary) vows:
August 13, 1949
Perpetual vows:
September 28, 1958
Priestly ordination:
Szeged, Hungary — October 21, 1951
Place of burial:
Fiumei úti temető
Budapest, Hungary
Biographical data
His parents are Ervin Novák, a mechanical engineer from Szentmiklós, and Gabriella Mattiassi. He completed his high school studies in Budapest at the Szent Imre High School. He entered the order on October 12, 1948, and took his first vows on October 13, 1949. He studied theology in Zirc from 1949 to 1950, and then at the Academy of Theology in Budapest from 1950 to 1952. After the Order’s operating license was revoked, Bishop Endre Hamvas of Csanád ordained him a priest in Szeged for the Archdiocese of Eger on October 21, 1951. He left the country in December 1956. He took his perpetual vows in the Cistercian Order on September 28, 1958. After 1980, he left the order and was incardinated into the Diocese of Dallas, TX.
Domestic service locations
From
To
Place i
Current name, country i
Church / institution
Position
1952
1956
Jánkmajtis, Hungary
assistant pastor
Foreign service locations
From
To
Place
Current name, country
Church / institution
Position
1956
1957
Rein, Austria
The pastor for Hungarian refugees in the Graz area
1957
1958
Róma, Italy
college student
1959
1974
Dallas, TX, USA
Texas Christian University
university professor
1974
1980
Dallas, TX, USA
Cistercian Abbey Our Lady of Dallas
high school teacher
1980
1984
USA
field chaplain (U.S. Air Force)
1980
1984 before
Paris, TX, USA
pastor
1984 after
Sulphur Springs, TX, USA
pastor
Literary activity
Ciszterciek Amerikában – Magyar Papi Egység, 1964, 24. szám.
Amerika Amerikája – Amerikai-Kanadai Magyar Élet, 1978. szeptember 2.
Limitations of Hungarian National Power in World War Two. Denton, 1969.
Providence and the West: The Hungarian catalyst, 1983. Dallasi Katolikus Egyetem. Kézirat, 463 lap. The Blakley Library University of Dallas.
