Ruthenian Catholic Church
| Ruthenian Catholic Church | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Catholic |
| Orientation | Eastern Catholic, Byzantine |
| Polity | Episcopal |
| Structure | Metropolitanate |
| Leader | Metropolitan William C. Skurla |
| Associations | Congregation for the Oriental Churches |
| Headquarters | Pittsburgh, PA |
| Congregations | 664 |
| Members | 419,500 |
| Ministers | 568 |
| Official website | archpitt.org |
The Ruthenian Catholic Church, also known in the United States as the Byzantine Catholic Church, is an Eastern Catholic church that uses the Byzantine Rite for its services. It is one of the 23 Eastern Catholic churches that are in full communion with the Holy See. There are two main communities within the church - American and European. In the United States, the Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh is self-governing (sui iuris). In Europe, Ruthenian Catholics are immediately subject to the Holy See. The European branch has an eparchy in Ukraine (the Eparchy of Mukacheve) and another in the Czech Republic (the Ruthenian Apostolic Exarchate of Czech Republic).
The Ruthenian Catholic Church is rooted among the Rusyn people who lived in Carpathian Ruthenia. This part of the Carpathian Mountains straddles the borders of the present-day states of Hungary, Slovakia and Ukraine. Today, the church is multi-ethnic. Members of the metropolitan province of Pittsburgh are predominantly English-speaking. Most are descendants of Rusyns but the descendants of other nationalities are also present such as Slovaks, Hungarians and Croats as well as those of non-Slavic and non-Eastern European ancestry. The modern Eparchy of Mukacheve in Ukraine is mostly Ukrainian speaking and remains officially part of the greater Ruthenian Church.
The Ruthenian Church originally developed among the Rusyn people living in Carpathian Ruthenia as a result of the missionary outreach of Saints Cyril and Methodius who brought Christianity and the Byzantine Rite to the Slavic peoples in the 9th century. After the separation of the Catholic and Orthodox churches in 1054, the Ruthenian Church retained its Orthodox ties.
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