The Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh ( la, Archieparchia Pittsburgensis Ritus Byzantini) is a Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church ecclesiastical territory or

archeparchy Eparchy ( gr, ἐπαρχία, la, eparchía / ''overlordship'') is an ecclesiastical unit in Eastern Christianity, that is equivalent to a diocese in Western Christianity. Eparchy is governed by an ''eparch'', who is a bishop. Depending on the ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

that serves portions of the Eastern

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Its territory covers the states of

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

Commonwealth of Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, and

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

. The current archbishop is

the Most Reverend The Most Reverend is a style applied to certain religious figures, primarily within the historic denominations of Christianity, but occasionally in some more modern traditions also. It is a variant of the more common style "The Reverend". Angli ...

William C. Skurla, whose is resident in the archepiscopal see of Pittsburgh, Allegheny, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Archeparchy of Pittsburgh is a

metropolitan see Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a ...

with three suffragan eparchies and one

exarchate An exarchate is any territorial jurisdiction, either secular or ecclesiastical, whose ruler is called an exarch. The term originates from the Greek word ''arkhos'', meaning a leader, ruler, or chief. Byzantine Emperor Justinian I created the firs ...

in its

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian Churches with traditional hierarchical structure, including Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. In general, an ecclesiastical province consists of seve ...

: the Eparchies of Parma,

Passaic Passaic ( or ) is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city had a total population of 70,537, ranking as the 16th largest municipality in New Jersey and an increase of 656 from the 69,7 ...

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

, and the Exarchate of Toronto.

History

Exarchate

In 1924, the church had been established by the Holy See as an

, known as the '"Apostolic Exarchate of Pittsburgh for Faithful of the Oriental Rite (Ruthenian)'". Exarchate is an ecclesiastical term which indicates a "missionary diocese" or territory. This move separated the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church in the United States into two distinct groups: one for those originating from Galicia (in modern-day Ukraine) with its see in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the other for those who were from the Carpathian Mountain region (in modern-day Ukraine and Slovakia), as well as those from Hungary and Croatia. In time, the two groups would come to be known as Ukrainian Greek Catholics and Ruthenian Byzantine Catholics, respectively.

(Arch)Eparchy

The Exarchate of Pittsburgh was elevated to the status of an eparchy in 1963. Byzantine Catholics in the United States were given '' sui iuris'' (self-governing) status as a Metropolia (archdiocese) by

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...

in 1969. Archbishop

Stephen Kocisko Stephen John Kocisko (June 11, 1915 – March 7, 1995) was the first Metropolitan Archbishop of the Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh, the American branch of the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church Early life Born June 11, 191 ...

was installed as the first Metropolitan-Archbishop on June 11, 1969, at Holy Spirit Church in Oakland (Pittsburgh). He was the first prelate in the history of people from the

Subcarpathian Rus Carpathian Ruthenia ( rue, Карпатьска Русь, Karpat'ska Rus'; uk, Закарпаття, Zakarpattia; sk, Podkarpatská Rus; hu, Kárpátalja; ro, Transcarpatia; pl, Zakarpacie); cz, Podkarpatská Rus; german: Karpatenukrai ...

region (of present-day Ukraine and Slovakia) to hold this rank.

Operations

The seat of the Archeparchy is the St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Cathedral in

Munhall, Pennsylvania Munhall is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, on the west bank of the Monongahela River, south of the confluence of the Monongahela and the Allegheny rivers where the Ohio River begins. It abuts the borough of Homestead ...

, a suburb of Pittsburgh. The Archeparchy of Pittsburgh also operates SS. Cyril and Methodius Byzantine Catholic Seminary in the North Side section of the city, for the training of candidates for the priesthood and diaconate, cantors and those in other ministries. Established in 1950 by Bishop Daniel Ivancho, the seminary serves all four eparchies of the Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh.

Parishes

, the Archeparchy has 85 parishes under its canonical jurisdiction. The majority of the archepachy's parishes are located in

Western Pennsylvania Western Pennsylvania is a region in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, covering the western third of the state. Pittsburgh is the region's principal city, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its economic ...

, particularly in the

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

and Johnstown metropolitan areas. Although most

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

parishes are under the jurisdiction of the

Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Parma The Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Parma ( la, Eparchia Parmensis Ruthenorum) is a Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church ecclesiastical territory or eparchy of the Catholic Church in the United States. Its episcopal seat is the Cathedral of St. John t ...

, 5 churches in metropolitan

Youngstown Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County. At the 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area, which ...

and 5 churches in Ohio River communities are governed by the archeparchy. Additionally, there are churches in the following states:

(1),

(4), and

(2).

Hierarchs

The current chancery office and residency is o
66 Riverview Avenue
Pittsburgh. ; Apostolic Exarchs * Basil Takach (1924–1948) * Daniel Ivancho (1948–1954) ; Eparchs * Nicholas Thomas Elko (1955–1967) ; Archeparchs *

Stephen John Kocisko Stephen John Kocisko (June 11, 1915 – March 7, 1995) was the first Metropolitan Archbishop of the Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh, the American branch of the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church Early life Born June 11, 191 ...

(1967–1991) * Thomas Victor Dolinay (1991–1993) * Judson Michael Procyk (1994–2001) * Basil Myron Schott, O.F.M. (2002–2010) * William C. Skurla (since 2012) ; Other priests of this eparchy who became bishops *

Michael Joseph Dudick Michael Joseph Dudick (February 24, 1916 – May 30, 2007) was an American priest and bishop of the Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh, the U.S. branch of the Ruthenian Catholic Church. Biography He was born to Rusyn immigrant p ...

(priest here, 1945-1963), appointed Bishop of Passaic (Ruthenian) in 1968 * Emil John Mihalik, appointed Bishop of Parma (Ruthenian) in 1969 * John Michael Kudrick, appointed Bishop of Parma (Ruthenian) in 2002

References

* * *

External links

Ruthenian Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh official site

(Catholic-Hierarchy.org)
Byzantine Catholic Church in America official site
{{authority control 1924 establishments in Pennsylvania

Churches in Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy Eastern Catholicism in Ohio Eastern Catholicism in Pennsylvania Catholicism in Texas Catholicism in West Virginia Christian organizations established in 1924

Rusyn-American culture in Pennsylvania Rusyn-American culture in West Virginia Rusyn-American history