He completed his theological studies at the Eger College of Theology. For four years, he served as organist at the Eger Cathedral. He was ordained a priest on June 2, 1959. His first assignment was in Becske, where he was assigned in August 1959 as an assistant pastor to a sick parish priest. Later that same year, he moved to Dunakeszi as a catechist, and subsequently served as a pastor in Rákospalota, Vác-Alsóváros, Mindszent, Kispest, and Újpest. From 1972 to 1974, he studied in Rome, and after his return, he served as a chaplain in Pestszentlőrinc.

In 1976, he moved to the United States. His first posting in the U.S. was in Pittsburgh, where he served as an assistant pastor and assistant minister at St. Ann Hungarian Roman Catholic Church. The parish also remembered him as an outstanding organist.

In 1978, he was transferred to St. Louis, where he became pastor and later parish priest of the Hungarian Catholic community at the historic St. Mary of Victories Church. He led the community for more than a decade. In addition to his pastoral work, he also served as a seminary instructor from 1982 to 1985. His ministry in St. Louis lasted until 1991.

In May 1991, he moved to Chicago, where he succeeded András Eördögh, S.J., as pastor of St. Stephen King of Hungary Church, the Hungarian Catholic church dedicated to King St. Stephen. During his time as pastor, he continued the previously begun renovation of the church and parish buildings, while playing an important role in sustaining the religious and cultural life of the Hungarian community in Chicago. He put his musical training to good use here as well: he organized organ and piano recitals and performed regularly himself. He was a well-known participant in events organized by the Hungarian community in Illinois; he played the piano at the state’s millennium celebration and also participated in the 1996 event in Chicago commemorating the 1,100th anniversary of the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin.

József Somos served American—and, within that, primarily Hungarian Catholic—communities for nearly a quarter-century. He worked in three different types of Hungarian church communities in Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and Chicago, while his liturgical music activities were closely linked to his priestly ministry. He concluded his parish ministry in Chicago in September 1999 and then returned to Hungary.

He spent the final years of his life in Hungary. He passed away in Nyíregyháza on February 14, 2014, at the age of 77.