József István Skinta was born in Sátoraljaújhely on March 11, 1927, to Mihály Skinta and Anna Kovács. His family belonged to the local Greek Catholic Parish of St. Nicholas. He completed his elementary and secondary education in his hometown, then graduated from the College of Commerce on July 5, 1947. On October 28, 1948, he entered the Order of St. Basil the Great; he took his vows on June 21, 1949, at which time he assumed the monastic name István.

His monastic training took place during the period of communist persecution of religious orders in Hungary. Bishop Miklós Dudás, OSBM, of Hajdúdorog, conferred upon him the tonsure and the order of lector on November 25, 1951. As a result of the order’s activities being rendered impossible, the community of Basilian novices was scattered. Between 1952 and 1954, Skinta held various secular jobs: he worked as a construction worker, a civil servant, an accountant, and a social worker. Meanwhile, he had the opportunity to resume his theological studies; from 1954 to 1956, he studied at Pázmány Péter University.

In February 1957, he left Hungary and went to the United States, where he joined his former Basilian confreres, József Erdei and Bazil Rakaczky. He completed his theological studies at the Cistercian Theological Institute in Okauchee. On July 5, 1959, he took his monastic vows at St. Joseph’s Monastery in Glen Cove, New York. He was ordained a subdeacon by Bishop Nicholas T. Elko in Burton, Ohio; then, on December 8, 1959, he was ordained a deacon in Passaic, and on December 20, 1959, he was ordained a priest at St. Elijah Church in Homestead, Pennsylvania. He celebrated his first Thanksgiving Divine Liturgy at St. Joseph Church in Cleveland.

During the early years of his pastoral ministry in the United States, he served in Toledo, Cleveland, and Lorain. In Lorain, he served at St. Michael’s Church from 1961 to 1966 and was also involved in the work of St. Nicholas Parish School. In 1961, he earned a teaching certification from Lorain County College.

He played a prominent role in establishing the Matawan center for the American Hungarian Basilian Fathers. In 1963, he purchased the old farm in New Jersey that later became the monastery and pilgrimage center of the Basilian Fathers of Máriapócs. The Basilian community was founded by István Skinta, Bazil Rakaczky, and József Erdei; the center became one of the most significant institutions of Hungarian Greek Catholic religious and cultural life in the United States. Between 1966 and 1971, Skinta served as the superior of the Matawan community. A historical summary of the Basilian Order lists the same succession of superiors: after Bazil Rakaczky, István Skinta led the community, followed by József Erdei in 1971.

Based in Matawan, the Basilian fathers not only served at the monastery but also participated in the pastoral care of the Greek Catholic parishes in the surrounding area. The history of St. Mary’s Byzantine Catholic Church in New Jersey specifically mentions István Skinta among the Basilian fathers from Matawan who provided auxiliary ministry in the parish.

From 1971 onward, he served primarily as a parish priest. He ministered in New York, Elizabeth, Trenton, Wilkes-Barre, Scranton, Perth Amboy, and New Brunswick, while also returning to the Matawan monastery on several occasions. Between 1994 and 1996, he served as the superior of the Basilian novices in Hungary, after which he returned to the United States. He received his last permanent assignment in the United States in 2000: until 2009, he served as pastor of St. Joseph’s Greek Catholic Church in New Brunswick. A contemporary source from 2003 also identifies him as the parish priest.

On March 8, 2009, on the fiftieth anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood, a thanksgiving Divine Liturgy was celebrated at the Basilian Monastery in Matawan. Following this, after more than fifty years of priestly service in the United States, he retired and returned permanently to Hungary.

In addition to his pastoral and monastic ministry, he had long been involved with the Hungarian Scouting movement: he had been a Scout since 1939 and later served as the leader of Scout Troop No. 4. He also served on the secretariat of the Association of Hungarian Catholic Priests and was a Fourth Degree member of the Knights of Columbus.

After his return, he lived in retirement in Máriapócs. In 2009, at a meeting of the Hungarian Catholic Priests’ Association held in Máriapócs, he initiated the renewal of Hungary’s consecration to Mary. He passed away in Nyíregyháza in January 2012.