SS. Peter & Paul and SS. Cyril & Methodius Byzantine Catholic churches are member parishes of the Byzantine Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh. The Metropolitan Church consists of the Archeparchy of Pittsburgh, The Eparchy of Passaic, the Eparchy of Parma, and the Eparchy of Van Nuys.
Metropolitan William C. Skurla is the fifth Metropolitan Archbishop of the Archeparchy of Pittsburgh and is head of the Byzantine Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh, the only autonomous (sui iuris) Eastern Catholic Metropolitan Church in the United States.
For a complete listing of Archeparchy events, please visit http://www.archpitt.org/events/category/general/.
2012 Ad Limina Visits Begin
Region XV of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) are in Rome for their ad limina visits with Pope Benedict XVI. Region XV includes all Eastern Catholic Bishops in the United States. Metropolitan William C. Skurla (Pittsburgh), Bishop John M. Kudrick (Parma), and Bishop Gerald N. Dino (Phoenix) of the Byzantine Catholic (Ruthenian) Metropolitan Church in the USA join their fellow Eastern Catholic bishops for the May 14-20 visits with Pope Benedict XVI and other Vatican officials. Former Administrator of the Archeparchy of Pittsburgh Very Reverend Eugene P. Yackanich also is accompanying newly-enthroned Metropolitan William, who assumed his Archieparchial duties April 18.
New Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Enthroned
April 18, 2012
On January 19, 2012 Pope Benedict XVI has appointed the Most Reverend William C. Skurla, as the fifth Metropolitan Archbishop of the Byzantine Archeparchy of Pittsburgh. He was enthroned in Pittsburgh on April 18, 2012 (see photos).
Bishop Skurla was born in Duluth, Minnesota, on June 1, 1956, the son of the late John and Mavis Skurla. He attended Catholic and public elementary schools, graduating in 1974 from Chisholm High School, Chisholm, Minnesota.
He graduated from Columbia University in New York City in 1981 with a concentration in philosophy, then studied at Mary Immaculate Seminary in Northampton, Northampton County, receiving a master’s of divinity in 1986 and a master’s of theology in 1987. Skurla entered the Byzantine Franciscan community in Sybertsville, Luzerne County, in 1981. He was ordained a priest in 1987 at St. Mary Byzantine Catholic Church in Freeland, also in Luzerne county. He served as pastoral administrator at St. Melany Byzantine Catholic Church in Tucson, Ariz., from 1993 until 2002.
He was enthroned as the third bishop of the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Van Nuys on April 23, 2002 in Phoenix. In December of 2007 he was appointed fourth bishop of the Eparchy of Passaic and was enthroned at St. Michael Cathedral, Passaic N.J., on Jan. 29, 2008. Skurla succeeds Metropolitan Archbishop Basil M. Schott, who died in June 2010.
The Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh is the only self-governing (sui iuris) Eastern Catholic Church in the United States. It stretches from Erie, Pennsylvania to Texas and has 58,000 parishioners and 65 priests in 78 parishes.
Metropolitan Basil M. Schott
July 21, 1939 – June 10, 2010
His Eminence Metropolitan Archbishop Basil M. Schott fell asleep in the Lord on the morning of Thursday, June 10, 2010
In blessed repose, grant O Lord, eternal rest to your departed servant, the high priest Metropolitan Basil, and remember him forever.
• Obituary from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette
•Byzantine Catholic World Tribute to Metropolitan Basil
•Metropolitan Basil Remembered at SS Peter & Paul