Month: August 2023

Pope Francis addresses pilgrims from the Ruthenian Eparchy of Mukachevo in St. Peter’s Basilica, Dec. 11, 2019. / Filippo Monteforte/AFP via Getty Images.

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 31, 2023 / 11:55 am (CNA).

Pope Francis this week confirmed the appointment of a Pittsburgh priest as the bishop of a Byzantine Catholic eparchy serving several midwestern U.S. states, the Vatican announced Thursday. 

In its regular update of resignations and appointments, the Holy See Press Office said Aug. 31 that Father Robert Mark Pipta had been appointed as bishop of the Eparchy of Parma based outside of Cleveland.

The Byzantine Catholic Church — formally titled the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church — is known in canon law as an “ecclesia particularis,” or a “particular church,” one that is in full communion with the Holy See but which retains distinct liturgical rites and customs from that of the Latin Church. 

An eparchy is the Byzantine Catholic equivalent of a diocese. The Parma eparchy encompasses most of Ohio as well as Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota, the bishopric says on its website.

Pipta previously served in the clergy of the eparchy of Holy Protection of Mary of Phoenix of the Ruthenians and most recently as rector of the Byzantine Catholic Seminary of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Pittsburgh, the Vatican said. 

Pipta was ordained in 1994 for the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Van Nuys, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops says on its website. He has served at parishes in California and Nevada in addition to his appointments in Pennsylvania and Arizona. 

The newly appointed bishop said in a letter this week that since its founding 50 years ago, the Parma eparchy has “shown itself a leader in return to authentic liturgical practice and has enhanced its parishes in the liturgical arts.”

“Efforts of evangelization and outreach are notable in the eparchy, including guidance to assist college students in remaining connected to their Byzantine Catholic upbringing,” Pipta said. “I’m eager to do my part for the increase of these and many other Spirit-guided endeavors.”

Reached for comment on Thursday, an eparchy official said the bishopric has not yet finalized arrangements for Pipta’s installation. Passaic Eparchy Bishop Kurt Richard Burnette, who also serves as the apostolic administrator of Parma, said in a letter that Pipta would be consecrated in his new role on Nov. 8. 

The Parma eparchy includes nearly 30 parishes spread across 12 states, totaling roughly 4,300 parishioners.

The eparchy was established in February 1969 by Pope Paul VI.

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Pope Francis prays at his Wednesday audience in St. Peter’s Square on April 12, 2023. / Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Denver, Colo., Aug 31, 2023 / 05:00 am (CNA).
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Former cardinal Theodore McCarrick arrives at Massachusetts’ Dedham District Courthouse for his arraignment, Sept. 3, 2021. / Andrew Bukuras/CNA

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 30, 2023 / 16:20 pm (CNA).

A group known as BishopAccountability.org, which tracks sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, condemned a Massachusetts district judge’s Wednesday decision to dismiss criminal charges against former cardinal Theodore McCarrick.

The criminal charges involving the sexual assault and abuse of a minor were dismissed Wednesday after a judge ruled McCarrick, 93, was not mentally competent to stand trial.

Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of the bishops accountability group, told CNA that “the dismissal of the case against McCarrick is hugely disappointing” and that “our hearts go out to the courageous victim who brought this case, and to all of McCarrick’s victims.”

McCarrick, the disgraced former archbishop of Washington, D.C., was facing three counts of indecent assault and battery on a person over the age of 14 relating to allegations that he sexually abused a teenager who was a family friend at a wedding ceremony in the 1970s at Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts. 

That teenager was identified by NorthJersey.com in February as James Grein, a now-64-year-old former New Jersey resident.

The charges in Massachusetts were the first criminal charges that McCarrick has ever faced following several accusations of sexual abuse of minors and seminarians. 

Doyle asserted that Wednesday’s dismissal “is a reminder of the Catholic hierarchy’s cynical strategy of cover-up.”

“McCarrick’s predations were an open secret,” Doyle said. “Many of his fellow cardinals and bishops knew, and they did nothing. They didn’t report him to law enforcement, they didn’t go public with the information, and they didn’t reach out to those he assaulted.” 

According to Doyle, “McCarrick might have been prosecuted years ago if even one of his brother bishops had called the police.” 

“Instead,” she said, “yet again, a predator has evaded accountability. While the institution may have been spared the embarrassment of an ex-cardinal on trial, the disgrace of its complicity with McCarrick remains.” 

Despite the group’s frustration over the dismissal, Doyle said the case remains an important milestone. 

“McCarrick was the first U.S. cardinal and only second U.S. bishop ever to be charged with abuse,” Doyle said. “Two years ago, the world witnessed what was unimaginable 20 years ago, when the Catholic abuse crisis first broke in Boston: a former U.S. cardinal in a courtroom answering to criminal charges of child sexual abuse.”

Once a powerful figure in ecclesiastical, diplomatic, and political circles in the U.S. and around the world, McCarrick was formally removed from the clerical state by Pope Francis in 2019. 

Criminal sexual assault charges filed against McCarrick in Wisconsin in April are still pending, as are several civil lawsuits.

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About 1,000 Californians rallied in front of the state capitol steps in Sacramento on Aug. 21, 2023, to protest a series of bills they say would take away their rights as parents. / Credit: Snejanna Yalanji

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 30, 20… […]