Advisory Board

Imre Asztrik Várszegi entered the Order of Saint Benedict in Pannonhalma in 1964. Between 1964 and 1968 he studied at the Saint Gerard College of Theology in Pannonhalma where he completed his studies in 1971. He was ordained as a priest in 1971. In 1976 he obtained degrees in History and German. Between 1976 and 1988 he taught at the Benedictine High School of Pannonhalma and lectured as a college professor at the Saint Gerard College of Theology in Pannonhalma. In 1985 he received his PhD in History from the Eötvös Loránd University.  Having written his PhD thesis on Archabbot Krizosztom Kelemen (1929-1950), he obtained his second PhD degree from the same institution in 1997.  In February 1989, he was ordained as the titular bishop in Esztergom, and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the Catholic University of Leuven. Between 1991 and 2018 he served as the Archabbot of Pannonhalma. Since 1998 he has been a member of the History Section at the Bavarian Benedictine Academy. Since 2000 he has lectured on Benedictine order history at the Sapientia College of Theology. From March 2018 he will serve as an Abbot Emeritus of Pannonhalma and as a member of the Hungarian Catholic Bishops Conference.