 Bishop Hornyak was born on 7 October 1919 in Kucura, Voivodina in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.In 1940, Bishop Dionisije Njaradi persuaded Hornyak to train for the priesthood and, in 1940, Hornyak was sent by the bishop to study in Rome, at the Pontifical Ruthenian College of St. Josaphat's.Hornyak was ordained as a priest by Bishop Ivan Buchko on 25 March 1945.