Byzantine Catholics in Pittsburgh archeparchy receive new archbishop

Washington D.C., Jan 19, 2012 / 15:39 pm

Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Bishop William C. Skurla to be the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Byzantine Archeparchy of Pittsburgh.

Bishop Skurla, who currently leads the Eparchy of Passaic, N.J., became the administrator of Pittsburgh after the death of Metropolitan Archbishop Basil M. Schott in June 2010.

The appointment was announced by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, apostolic nuncio to the United States, in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 19.

Bishop Skurla was born June 1, 1956 in Duluth, Minn., where he attended both public and Catholic elementary schools.

In 1981, he earned a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University in New York. He later attended Mary Immaculate Seminary in Northampton, Pa., earning a master of divinity degree in 1986 and a master of theology degree in 1987.

Bishop Skurla entered the Franciscan community in Sybertsville, Pa. and was solemnly professed in 1985. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1987 and later served as Vicar of Holy Dormition Monastery in Sybertsville.

He was incardinated into the Eparchy of Van Nuys, Ca. in 1996 and named bishop of the eparchy in 2002. He has served as the bishop of the Eparchy of Passaic since 2007.

The 55-year-old bishop will be enthroned in Pittsburgh on April 18.

The Archeparchy of Pittsburgh, which is home to more than 58,000 people, encompasses all Byzantine Ruthenian Rite Catholics in Western Pennsylvania and several counties in Ohio, as well as the entire states of Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia.