The Holy Protection of Mary Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Phoenix, commonly known as the Eparchy of Phoenix and formerly known as the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Van Nuys, ( la, Eparchia Vannaisensis) is a

Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church The Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church ( rue, Русиньска ґрекокатолицька церьков; la, Ecclesia Graeco-Catholica Ruthenica), also known in the United States simply as the Byzantine Catholic Church, is an Eastern Cath ...

territory jurisdiction or eparchy of the Catholic Church in the western United States. Its

episcopal see An episcopal see is, in a practical use of the phrase, the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, mak ...

is Phoenix, Arizona. The last bishop was the Most Reverend John Stephen Pazak. The Eparchy of Phoenix's territorial jurisdiction consists of thirteen Western States. Churches are presently located in the states of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington. It is a suffragan eparchy in the ecclesiastical province of the

metropolitan 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 typ ...

Archeparchy of Pittsburgh. , Holy Protection Eparchy of Phoenix has 19 parishes and 2 missions under its canonical jurisdiction. Most parishes follow the Ruthenian recension, although the eparchy includes one parish of the

Italo-Albanian Catholic Church The Italo-Albanian Catholic Church ( la, Ecclesia Catholica Italo-Albanica; it, Chiesa Cattolica Italo-Albanese; sq, Kisha Katolike-Bizantine Arbëreshë), Italo-Albanian Byzantine-Catholic Church or Italo-Albanian Church, is one of the 23 E ...

and one of the Russian Greek Catholic Church.

History

The creation of a new eparchy for the western United States was proposed by the metropolitan Council of Hierarchs in 1981. The Congregation for the Oriental Churches, a dicastery of the Roman Curia responsible for the Eastern Catholic Churches in communion with the Holy See, recommended the erection of a new eparchy, and it was approved by Pope John Paul II. The Eparchy of Van Nuys was canonically inaugurated on March 9, 1982, when Archbishop Stephen Kocisko,

Metropolitan 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 typ ...

of the Metropolia of Pittsburgh enthroned Thomas Dolinay as the first bishop of the eparchy. Archbishop

Pio Laghi Pio Laghi (21 May 1922 – 10 January 2009) was an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church. His service was primarily in the diplomatic service of the Holy See and the Roman Curia. He served as Apostolic nuncio to several countries and as the P ...

, Apostolic Delegate to the United States, represented the

Roman Pontiff Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

and read the Papal Bulla creating the eparchy and appointing Dolinay. Cardinal

Timothy Manning Timothy Manning (Irish: ''Tadhg Ó Mongáin'') (November 15, 1909 – June 23, 1989) was an Irish American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Los Angeles from 1970 to 1985, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1973 ...

, Archbishop of Los Angeles delivered the homily. The Church of St. Mary in

Sherman Oaks, California Sherman Oaks is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California located in the San Fernando Valley, founded in 1927. The neighborhood includes a portion of the Santa Monica Mountains, which gives Sherman Oaks a lower population density than ...

, was designated as the cathedral. In 1990, with the retirement of Archbishop Kocisko of Pittsburgh approaching, Pope John Paul II relieved Dolinay of his duties as Bishop of Van Nuys and appointed him Coadjutor Archbishop of the Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh on February 19, 1990.Thomas Dolinay bio sketch at Catholic-Hierarchy.org
Retrieved 2011-02-13. The Pope appointed the Auxiliary Bishop of Passaic, George M. Kuzma, to succeed Bishop Dolinay. After the Northridge earthquake of 1994 damaged the Cathedral of St. Mary, the eparchial offices, and the bishop's residence, Bishop Kuzma moved his office and residence to Phoenix, Arizona. On February 10, 2010, the seat of the diocese was officially changed to Phoenix. Accordingly, the former pro-cathedral of St. Stephen was given the title of Cathedral, and the Cathedral of St. Mary received the title of ''Proto-Cathedral''.

Eparchs

The eparchal headquarters are at 8105 North 16th Street, Phoenix, Arizona.

Ordinaries

# Bishop Thomas Dolinay (1982–1990) † # Bishop George Kuzma (1991–2000) † # Bishop

William C. Skurla William Charles Skurla (born June 1, 1956, in Duluth, Minnesota, United States) is the Primate of the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church and the Metropolitan Archeparch or Archbishop of the Ruthenian Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh. He succee ...

(2002–2007) # Bishop Gerald N. Dino (2007–2016) # Bishop John Stephen Pazak (2016–2021) ## Thomas James Olmsted ( Apostolic Administrator, 2018–present; Apostolic Administrator '' Sede vacante'' as of August 23, 2021) Despite his retirement as Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix he will remain Apostolic Administrator. † = deceased

Other priests of this eparchy who became bishops

Kurt Richard Burnette Kurt Richard Burnette (born 7 November 1955 at Sculthorpe Royal Air Force Base in Norfolk, England, UK) is the Bishop or Eparch of the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Passaic. He succeeded Bishop William C. Skurla, who was appointed Metropolita ...

, appointed Bishop of Passaic (Ruthenian) in 2013

Statistics

The eparchy has 19 parishes, two missions, 2,261 faithful, 35 priests, 12 deacons and 1 religious.

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

;Eparchy of Phoenix
Ruthenian Catholic Eparchy of Phoenix Official Site

at catholic-hierarchy.org

at catholic-hierarchy.org
Saint Anne Catholic Church of the Byzantine Rite
a parish of the Eparchy of Phoenix in

San Luis Obispo, California San Luis Obispo (; Spanish for " St. Louis the Bishop", ; Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, in the U.S. state of California. Located on the Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfwa ...

St. Basil the Great Parish
a parish of the Eparchy of Phoenix in

Los Gatos, California Los Gatos (, ; ) is an incorporated town in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population is 33,529 according to the 2020 census. It is located in the San Francisco Bay Area just southwest of San Jose in the foothills of the ...

;Other
The Archeparchy of Pittsburgh

Byzantine Catholic Church in America
{{DEFAULTSORT:Byzantine Catholic Eparchy Of Phoenix Phoenix Phoenix Eastern Catholicism in Arizona Eastern Catholicism in California Culture of Phoenix, Arizona Christian organizations established in 1982 Phoenix Rusyn-American culture in Arizona Rusyn-American culture in California Rusyn-American history 1982 establishments in Arizona