Péter Mustó, S.J., is a Hungarian Jesuit priest, pastor, spiritual director, and writer. As a member of the Hungarian Province of the Society of Jesus, he spent a significant part of his life in Western Europe and Latin America, where he saw his vocation primarily as serving people marginalized by society.

He was born in Derecske on January 25, 1935. His family fled westward from the front lines in 1944, so he completed his high school studies in Germany. After graduating from high school, he entered the Hungarian Province of the Society of Jesus in 1953. He pursued his studies in philosophy and theology in France and Germany, and was ordained a priest in 1963.

From 1965 to 1977, he served as a Hungarian youth pastor in Munich. Influenced by the spirit of the Second Vatican Council, his interest increasingly turned toward people of other faiths, those with different ways of thinking, and those marginalized by affluent society. At the heart of his pastoral approach lay the personal dignity of the human person and the recognition of God’s presence in encounters with fellow human beings.

Between 1977 and 1978, he traveled through Latin America with a backpack, from Mexico to Bolivia, to study the initiatives of church communities and religious orders aimed at helping the poor. Subsequently, from 1978 to 1979, he lived and worked in Berlin as a “worker priest,” earning his living by washing dishes in restaurants. These experiences became a defining part of his later spirituality.

From 1979 to 1991, he served as a missionary in Colombia. As a grassroots missionary and social worker, he worked among the poor, street children, and those marginalized by society. Initially, he collaborated with the Salesians, then settled in one of Bogotá’s slums, where he realized that rather than solving the problems of children who had ended up on the streets, efforts should be directed toward preventing them from ending up there in the first place. To this end, he established the Casa Estudio day center, which provided support for at-risk children. He chronicled his experiences in South America in several of his books, including *Between Hope and Doubt on the Streets of Bogotá* and *Letters from South America*.

After the political transition, he returned to Hungary. He lived and served first in Szeged and then in Dobogókő, where he worked as a nationally renowned spiritual director and retreat leader. He regularly led silent meditation retreats in Tahi and in Germany as well. Contemplative prayer, inner silence, and the deepening of one’s personal relationship with God played a central role in his spiritual work. Among his most significant works on this subject are *Life Is Born in Silence: Experiences of Inner Prayer*, *You Will Love What Is Yours*, and *Where You Are at Home*.

In 2013, together with Ferenc Jálics, S.J., he was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Merit of Hungary for his outstanding work in the renewal of Hungarian retreat culture, as well as for their outstanding work in promoting the contemplative prayer method they developed in the field of spiritual healing throughout Hungary.

Remény és kétség között Bogotá utcáin, Longinus Kiadó, Szeged, 2008, Levelek Dél-Amerikából, Korda Kiadó, Kecskemét, 2009,
Csendben születik az élet. A belső ima tapasztalatairól; JTMR–L'Harmattan, Bp., 2013 (Jezsuita könyvek. Lelkiség),
Megszereted, ami a tiéd; JTMR, Bp., 2014 (Jezsuita könyvek. Lelkiség), Remény és kétség között Bogotá utcáin; 2. jav. kiad.; Jezsuita, Bp., 2015,
Mustó Péter–Hári Ildikó: Ahol otthon vagy; Jezsuita, Bp., 2017 (Jezsuita könyvek. Lelkiség); Az éltet, ami személyes; szöveg Mustó Péter, Hári Ildikó, ill. Tornay Krisztina; Jablonczay Lenke Ifjúsági Egyesület, Debrecen, 2020