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.

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.

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.