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

Kákonyi Imre Asztrik OFM, dr

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Deceased

Birth data:: Kalocsa, Kingdom of Hungary, currently Hungary — August 12, 1923
Death data:: Esztergom, Hungary — November 1, 1990
Denomination:: Roman Catholic
Ecclesiastical status:: religious
Diocese / Order:: ferences (Ordo Fratrum Minorum) (Kapisztránus rendtartomány)

Ordination level:: priest
Entry into religious life:: Szécsény, Kingdom of Hungary, currently Hungary — 1945
Perpetual vows:: October 4, 1949
Priestly ordination:: March 1, 1951

Biographical data

His parents were Sándor Kákonyi and Teréz Bagó; he was their eighth child. After graduating from the Jesuit high school in Kalocsa in 1943, he applied to become a priest, but his application was rejected due to poor health, so he began his studies at the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Technology, but in 1944 he was conscripted into forced labor, from which he was released due to his poor health. He entered the Franciscan Order in Szécsény in 1945. He took his perpetual vows on October 4, 1949. After the religious orders were banned, he completed his studies at the Central Seminary and was ordained a priest on March 1, 1951. In 1957, he earned a doctorate in biblical studies. He is a founding member of the National Council for Ecclesiastical Art. He designed the interior liturgical spaces of roughly 50 churches following the Second Vatican Council. In 1962, at the very beginning of the Second Vatican Council, he became a founding member of the National Council for Church Art, which initiated the transformation of church liturgical spaces in both theory and practice according to the Council’s guidelines. In 1971, at the invitation of Julián Füzér, OFM, he traveled to New Brunswick, NJ, USA, to renovate the large early 20th-century Neo-Gothic church in the spirit of the Council’s liturgical reform. Here, too, he illuminated the shining Cross of Christ on the main wall of the sanctuary, while depicting Hungarian saints on the stained-glass windows and side walls. The renovated church was reconsecrated by József Mindszenty in 1973. From 1962 to 1990, he was also a member of the Ecclesiastical Art Council of the Archdiocese of Esztergom. An exhibition of his works opened in Esztergom in 2023.

Domestic service locations

From	To	Place i	Church / institution	Position
1951		Budapest, Hungary	Margit körút	pastor
1952		Budapest, Hungary	Pasarét	pastor
1972		Budapest, Hungary	Pasarét	pastor
1973	1990	Esztergom, Hungary		theology professor at the order’s theological college, painter
1983	1971	Esztergom, Hungary		theology professor at the order’s theological college

Foreign service locations

From	To	Place	Current name, country	Church / institution	Position
1971	1972	New Brunswick, NJ, USA		Szent László R. K. Egyházközség	pastor, supervisor of the church’s interior renovation, painter

Literary activity

Elmélkedések a Rózsafüzér titkairól, Budapest, 1990. Művészeti tevékenysége több mint 70 templomban megtalálható.

Life timeline

Birth

August 12, 1923

Kalocsa, Kingdom of Hungary, currently Hungary

Entry into religious life

1945

Szécsény, Kingdom of Hungary, currently Hungary

Perpetual vows

October 4, 1949

Priestly ordination

March 1, 1951

Service in the homeland

1951

Budapest, Hungary

Margit körút

pastor

Service in the homeland

1952

Budapest, Hungary

Pasarét

pastor

Service abroad

1971 – 1972

New Brunswick, NJ, USA

Szent László R. K. Egyházközség

pastor, supervisor of the church’s interior renovation, painter

Service in the homeland

1972

Budapest, Hungary

Pasarét

pastor

Service in the homeland

1973 – 1990

Esztergom, Hungary

theology professor at the order’s theological college, painter

Service in the homeland

1983 – 1971

Esztergom, Hungary

theology professor at the order’s theological college

Death

November 1, 1990

Esztergom, Hungary

Sources

MKL: Kákonyi; Szolgálat 88. (1990/4), 146.;
https://epa.oszk.hu/02900/02970/00605/pdf/EPA02970_vigilia_1991_01_70-80.pdf✕
http://www.ferencesek.hu/kakonyi-asztrik-emlekezetet/✓

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Citation for this entry

Kákonyi Imre Asztrik OFM, dr: 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=509 (accessed: 2026-07-07).

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