At its meeting on 19 October 2026, the conventual chapter of Pannonhalma Archabbey confirmed Archabbot Cirill Hortobágyi OSB in the abbatial office following the conclusion of his first nine-year term. The confirmation was conducted in accordance with the constitution of the Hungarian Benedictine Congregation, of which Archabbot Cirill also serves as Abbot-President.

Born on 22 February 1959 in Nagytálya, Archabbot Cirill spent his youth there and in Maklár before entering the Benedictine high school in Pannonhalma. Following his graduation in 1977, he began his novitiate at the archabbey on 21 August of that year and made his temporary profession on 6 August 1981. After concluding military service, he completed theological studies at Saint Gerard’s Theological Seminary in Pannonhalma between 1979 and 1983. He was ordained a deacon in 1984, made his solemn profession on 14 August 1985 and was ordained to the priesthood the following day. He subsequently studied biology and geography at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, completing his degree in 1988.

Archabbot Cirill has long balanced monastic leadership with an active teaching apostolate. From 1989 to 1992, he served as novice master, before being appointed prior of the archabbey in 1991. He has taught continuously at the abbey’s secondary boarding school, directing the institution from 1994 to 1996, whilst also lecturing on monastic law and monastic spirituality at the Saint Gerard Institute of the Sapientia Theological Seminary in Pannonhalma.

In 1993, he assumed additional administrative responsibilities as financial deputy to his predecessor, Archabbot-Bishop Asztrik Várszegi OSB, overseeing the community's social, educational and cultural institutions. During this period, he directed the architectural renovations preceding Pannonhalma’s millenary celebrations in 1996. He also launched several economic initiatives, including the ‘Pannonhalma Monastery Products’ programme, which researched historic recipes to produce herbal remedies and goods, and developed the archabbey's long-term tourism strategy.

Pope Francis originally confirmed Archabbot Cirill as Archabbot of Pannonhalma on 16 February 2018. He received the abbatial blessing on the Solemnity of Saint Benedict, 21 March 2018, from Archabbot-Bishop Várszegi in the presence of numerous monastic superiors gathered in the archabbey church.

Founded in 996 atop the historical Mount of Saint Martin, Pannonhalma Archabbey is Hungary’s oldest monastic foundation and, after Monte Cassino, the second-largest territorial abbey in the world. Dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours, whose birthplace traditional accounts locate at the base of the hill, the community numbers approximately 50 monks and remains one of the country's primary spiritual and intellectual centres. Pannonhalma has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996. The basilica was reopened in 2012 after extensive renovations.