His parents were György Papp, a priest, and Mária Mosolygó. He completed his studies in Esztergom. While still unmarried, he was ordained as a priest of the Diocese of Hajdúdorog by Diocesan Bishop István Miklósy on December 6, 1933, in Nyíregyháza. From 1933 to 1934, he was on a research trip in Rome. He earned a doctorate in canon law in 1944 from the Faculty of Theology at Pázmány Péter University. He was a professor of theology and a member of the National Assembly from 1945 to 1947. From 1947 to 1948, he was again in Rome on a study trip, from where he departed for Canada. He served as a bishop’s councilor in the Diocese of Hajdúdorog (1939–1951), as a prebendary canon of the diocesan cathedral chapter (1942–1950), and chancellor-canon (1950–1951). He was appointed a papal prelate in 1967. He was the first dean of the Hungarian deanery of the Greek Catholic Diocese of Toronto (1956–1975). He was entitled to wear the episcopal miter in 1975. He played a pivotal role in building up the Hungarian Greek Catholic communities, establishing parishes in Hamilton, Welland, Courtland, and Windsor, and organizing daughter parishes (Oshawa, Brantford, Montreal, Toronto). For years, he also studied the situation of Hungarian Greek Catholics living in the United States. He compiled a 25-page study based on his distressing findings, which he sent on May 26, 1965, to Papal Prelate József Zágon in Rome, and subsequently shared his opinion with Bishop Miklós Dudás of Nyíregyháza. In Canada, he wrote a book on Greco-Latin mythology, but it was never published. In his final years, he devoted himself to researching Hungarian family names, but he was unable to complete this work due to heart problems.

A mo-i g.k. ppségek és a relatio diocesana kötelezettsége. Nyíregyháza, 1942. - Mo. prímásának joghatósága és a g.k. egyh. Miskolc, 1943. - A m. g.k. egyh. partikuláris jogforrásai. Bp., 1943. - A Tametsi dekrétum és a keleti egyhjog. 1. köt. Uo., 1944. - Egyhm. zsinati jogalkotás Mo-on a C.J.C. óta. Nyíregyháza, 1945. - A m. g.k. szórványok egyhjogi helyzete. Uo., 1945. - Magasztalja az én lelkem az Urat! Imakv. Toronto, ON, 1952. - Nyíregyházán 1937. I-1940. V: a G.k. Élet, Miskolcon 1940. III-1943. II: a Keleti Egyh. szerk. biz. tagja, 1942/43: a G.k. Szemle munk., Nyíregyházán 1944: a Keleti Fény fel. szerk-je, 1945. XI. 8-XII. 19: a Magyar Nép fel. szerk-je és kiadója, 1946. X. 1-1947. II. 1: a Szabolcsi Kis Újság szerk-je és fel. kiadója. 1968: a Magyar Kultúra szerk-je.