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 territory jurisdiction or

eparchy 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 ...

in the western

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 territorie ...

. 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 ...

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

. The last

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

was 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". Anglic ...

John Stephen Pazak John Stephen Pazak, C.Ss.R. (born August 13, 1946 in Gary, Indiana) is an American-born member of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, commonly known as the Redemptorists, who served as an eparch of the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church. ...

. The Eparchy of Phoenix's territorial jurisdiction consists of thirteen Western States. Churches are presently located in the states of

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, and

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. It is a suffragan eparchy in the

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United State ...

of the metropolitan 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 and one of the

Russian Greek Catholic Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow,_Catholic_Church_in_Presnya.jpg , imagewidth = 200px , alt = , caption = Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception , abbreviation = , ty ...

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 The Dicastery for the Eastern Churches (also called Dicastery for the Oriental Churches), previously named Congregation for the Oriental Churches or Congregation for the Eastern Churches ( la, Congregatio pro Ecclesiis Orientalibus), is a dicaste ...

, a dicastery of the Roman Curia responsible for the Eastern Catholic Churches in communion with the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

, recommended the erection of a new eparchy, and it was approved by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

. The Eparchy of Van Nuys was canonically inaugurated on March 9, 1982, when 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 ...

, Metropolitan of the Metropolia of Pittsburgh enthroned

Thomas Dolinay Thomas Victor Dolinay (July 24, 1923 – April 13, 1993) was the second Metropolitan Archbishop of the Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh, the American branch of the Ruthenian Catholic Church. Early life Born July 24 to Rusy ...

as the first

of the eparchy. Archbishop Pio Laghi,

Apostolic Delegate An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international o ...

to the United States, represented the Roman Pontiff and read the Papal Bulla creating the eparchy and appointing Dolinay. Cardinal Timothy Manning,

Archbishop of Los Angeles The Archdiocese of Los Angeles ( la, Archidiœcesis Angelorum in California, es, Arquidiócesis de Los Ángeles) is an ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church ( particularly the Roman Catholic or Latin Church) located in t ...

delivered the homily. The Church of St. Mary in Sherman Oaks, California, 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 The term coadjutor (or coadiutor, literally "co-assister" in Latin) is a title qualifier indicating that the holder shares the office with another person, with powers equal to the other in all but formal order of precedence. These include: * Coad ...

of the

Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh The Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh ( la, Archieparchia Pittsburgensis Ritus Byzantini) is a Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church ecclesiastical territory or archeparchy of the Catholic Church that serves portions of the Eastern Unite ...

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 The 1994 Northridge earthquake was a moment 6.7 (), blind thrust earthquake that occurred on January 17, 1994, at 4:30:55 a.m. PST in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles. The quake had a duration of approximatel ...

of 1994 damaged the Cathedral of St. Mary, the eparchial offices, and the bishop's residence, Bishop Kuzma moved his office and residence to

. On February 10, 2010, the seat of the diocese was officially changed to Phoenix. Accordingly, the former

pro-cathedral A pro-cathedral or procathedral is a parish church that temporarily serves as the cathedral or co-cathedral of a diocese, or a church that has the same function in a Catholic missionary jurisdiction (such as an apostolic prefecture or apostoli ...

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

(1982–1990) † # Bishop

George Kuzma George Martin Kuzma (July 24, 1925 – December 7, 2008) was an American bishop of the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church. At the age of 29, Kuzma was ordained as a priest. He was appointed auxiliary bishop of Passaic in New Jersey on November 11, ...

(1991–2000) † # Bishop William C. Skurla (2002–2007) # Bishop Gerald N. Dino (2007–2016) # Bishop

(2016–2021) ## Thomas James Olmsted (

Apostolic Administrator An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic adm ...

, 2018–present; Apostolic Administrator ''

Sede vacante ''Sede vacante'' ( in Latin.) is a term for the state of a diocese while without a bishop. In the canon law of the Catholic Church, the term is used to refer to the vacancy of the bishop's or Pope's authority upon his death or resignation. Hi ...

'' 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, 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
St. Basil the Great Parish
a parish of the Eparchy of Phoenix in Los Gatos, California ;Other
The Archeparchy of Pittsburgh

Byzantine Catholic Church in America
{{DEFAULTSORT:Byzantine Catholic Eparchy Of Phoenix

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 ...

Eastern Catholicism in Arizona Eastern Catholicism in California Culture of Phoenix, Arizona Christian organizations established in 1982

Rusyn-American culture in Arizona Rusyn-American culture in California Rusyn-American history 1982 establishments in Arizona