His parents were István Lackner, a farmer, and Erzsébet Rutscher. He began his high school studies with the Cistercians in Baja, then attended the fourth grade at the German Imperial School in Budapest, the fifth and sixth grades at the Bleyer High School, also in Budapest, and completed the seventh and eighth grades back in Baja. He entered the order on August 29, 1947, took his first vows in Zirc on August 30, 1948, and his perpetual vows abroad on August 3, 1952. He began his theological studies at the Order’s college in Zirc, then continued them in Rome at the Pontificio Ateneo Sant’Anselmo starting in 1950. He was ordained a priest by Bishop Franz Tschann, C.P., Vicar Provincial of Innsbruck, at the Capuchin church in Feldkirch, Austria, on August 6, 1952. In 1953, he spent a short time in Canada, then lived in the United States until his death. He earned a doctorate in history from Fordham University in New York, NY.

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