Ruthenian Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh

Byzantine Catholic
Archeparchy of Pittsburgh
Archieparchia Pittsburgensis
Ritus Byzantini

St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Cathedral
Location
Country United States
Ecclesiastical province Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh
Statistics
Population
- Total		 (as of 2009)
58,997
Parishes 79
Information
Denomination Catholic Church (Eastern Catholic)
Rite Byzantine Rite
Established May 8, 1924 (92 years ago)
Cathedral St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Cathedral
Current leadership
Pope Francis
Metropolitan Archbishop William C. Skurla
Metropolitan of Pittsburgh
Map
Website
www.archpitt.org

The Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh (Latin: Archieparchia Pittsburgensis Ritus Byzantini) is the Catholic archeparchy (archdiocese) governing all of the Byzantine Catholic (Ruthenian) Church in the Western portion of Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, and in the states of Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, and West Virginia. Its chancery office and the residence of the Archbishop are located at 66 Riverview Avenue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is distinguished from the Latin Church Diocese of Pittsburgh.

The current archbishop is the Most Reverend William C. Skurla.

History

Exarchate

In 1924, the church had been established by the Holy See as an exarchate, 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, PA 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 (diocese) in 1963.

Byzantine Catholics in the United States were given sui iuris (self-governing) status as a Metropolia (archdiocese) by Pope Paul VI in 1969. Archbishop Stephen Kocisko 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 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, 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

As of 2010, the Archeparchy has 85 parishes under its canonical jurisdiction.

The majority of the archepachy's parishes are located in Western Pennsylvania, particularly in the Pittsburgh and Johnstown metropolitan areas.

Although most Ohio churches fall under the jurisdiction of the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Parma, 5 churches in metropolitan Youngstown and 5 churches in Ohio River communities are governed by the archeparchy.

Additionally, there are churches in the following states: 1 in Louisiana, 1 in Tennessee, 3 in Texas and 2 in West Virginia.

Hierarchs

Apostolic Exarchs

...

Eparchs
Archeparchs

See also

Metropolia of Pittsburgh map

References

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