His father was János Kóczán, who passed away in 1933. He completed his high school studies in Sopron at the Benedictine school. He pursued his higher education in Szombathely and Budapest. He was ordained a priest on June 21, 1925, by Bishop János Mikes, and celebrated his first Mass in his native village. He resided in the United States from 1926 to 1930, when he was ordered to return home. After Cardinal József Mindszenty was arrested, the communists approached him and tried—unsuccessfully—to persuade him to sign a statement condemning the cardinal for “treasonous activities.” A few days after the visit, he fled and found refuge as a refugee in Salzburg, Austria, before emigrating permanently to the United States in 1950. His tombstone lists his first name as Balthazar and his year of birth as 1901.