During the order's suppression by the communists, he was forced to discontinue his philosophical studies. He entered the priesthood in 1950. One year later, at the age of 27, he was secretly consecrated a bishop by Bishop Pavol Hnilica on 24 August 1951 and became the youngest Catholic bishop in the world. He then worked for three years at the Tatrachema Company and then at the Institute of Work Hygiene and Work-Related Diseases. On 30 June 1958, he was forced to leave the Institute, and on 10 September, he began working as a night watchman for the Prefa Company. He then worked as a maintenance worker at the Juraj Dimitrov Chemical Company, one of the largest companies in Bratislava.