News
Byzcath.org News provides news focusing on the Christian East from varous sources and offers links to other sites dedicated to providing the news about the Church.
Churches and organizations that provide news about the Eastern Churches are invited to submit their news stories to us for publication here (use the contact page for submission)..
Materials from the Vatican Information Service, Zenit, CWNews.com and other sources are published here with permission of their owners but may not be republished further without the permission of their original publishers. Please visit these sites to obtain additional general news about the Church. In addition to these sources EWTN News also provides a good general news summary.
Photo: Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I embrace.
- Details
vatican.va - The Holy Father has made effective the following transfers and appointments regarding Ruthenian Byzantine Catholics:
Appointment of auxiliary bishop of the eparchy of Bratislava for Catholics of Byzantine Rite, Slovakia
The Holy Father has appointed Bishop Milan Lach, S.J., as auxiliary bishop of the eparchy of Bratislava for Catholics of Byzantine Rite, transferring him from the office of bishop of the Ruthenian eparchy of Parma, United States of America, and assigning him the titular see of Ostracine.
Curriculum vitae
Bishop Milan Lach, S.J., was born on 18 November 1973 in Kežmarok, in the archeparchy of Prešov of the Byzantines, Slovakia. He attended the Greek-Catholic Theological Faculty of Prešov. In 1995 he entered the noviaite of the Jesuits in Trnava, and subsequently completed his theological studies in the Theological Faculty of the University of Trnava.
He was ordained a priest in 2001 in Košice.
From 2001 to 2003 he worked in the scientific area of the East-West Centre of Spirituality of Michal Lacko in Košice, and from 2009 to 2011 he served as superior of the same Centre. In 2009 he was awarded a doctorate in Eastern ecclesiastical sciences from the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome, at the same time serving as spiritual father of the Pontifical Russicum College and spiritual assistant of the Federation of Scouts of Europe in Rome.
Since 2010 he has been a member of the editorial team of the theological journal Verba Theologica.
Since 2011 he has been deputy dean of the Theological Faculty of the University of Trnava, for foreign relations and development.
He was appointed as auxiliary bishop of the archeparchy of Prešov of the Byzantines, Slovakia, on 19 April 2013, and assigned the titular see of Ostracine.
From 2016 to 2017 he was visitator of the Congregation for Eastern Churches of the Eastern seminaries and colleges in Rome.
He was appointed apostolic administrator sede vacante of the Ruthenian eparchy of Parma, United States of America, on 24 June, and bishop of the same circumscription on 1 June 2018.
Appointment of apostolic administrator of the Ruthenian eparchy of Parma, U.S.A.
The Holy Father has appointed Bishop Kurt Burnette of the Ruthenian eparchy of Passaic as apostolic administrator sede vacante of the Ruthenian eparchy of Parma, United States of America.
Appointment of apostolic administrator of the Holy Protection of Mary Byzantine Catholic eparchy of Phoenix, U.S.A.
The Holy Father has appointed Bishop Kurt Burnette of the Ruthenian eparchy of Passaic as apostolic administrator sede vacante of the Holy Protection of Mary Byzantine Catholic eparchy of Phoenix, United States of America.
- Details
Fairfax, VA - Eastern Christian Publication has published "The Book of Hours", an authentic translation of the Church Slavonic Časoslov including Vespers, Matins, The Hours, Compline, the Canonicon, Troparia of the Year, and Menologion of the Saints.
For information on "The Book of Hours" and how to order it, please visit "The Book of Hours" at ecpubs.com.
For imformation on how to use "The Book of Hours", please visit "Full English Translation of the Ruthenian Časoslóv (Book of Hours) with Videos by Father Jack Custer" at The Byzantine Forum.
- Details
By Anna Farrow, Catholic Register Special
December 8, 2022
As a woman of faith, Canadian journalist Laura Ieraci has a pastoral heart — one that can lead her to distant pastures.
Ieraci spent two weeks this past summer filming on location in Hungary for a forthcoming documentary focused on the faith of a gypsy community and the life of a heroic priest. But the gestation of the project started seven years ago as she and her husband, Rev. Andrew Summerson, had a couple of weeks to kill between the end of their studies in Rome and the next stage of their lives in North America.
When her husband asked her how she wanted to fill the time, Ieraci answered, “I want to go and learn about Mother Church.” Two years earlier, this cradle Roman Catholic from Montreal had married into the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church. She wanted, she said, “to see the geography, to eat the food and to hear its chant.”
By the end of their 2015 trip to eastern Hungary and western Ukraine, Ieraci was already making plans. She told her husband, a Byzantine Catholic priest of the Eparchy of Parma, “One day it would be great if we could organize a pilgrimage for the people in North America.”
In 2018, with the help of her husband and their bishop, she did just that. She wanted to provide an opportunity for Greek Catholics in North America to learn about the history of their Church and to connect with the physical touchstones, the icons and buildings, of the faith.
As a journalist, she has an instinct for capturing a story. Then editor for Horizons, the newspaper of the Eparchy of Parma, Ieraci organized things so the pilgrimage could have a small film crew attached. She and her team produced a documentary, From Mariapoch to Mariapoch: A Journey of Discovery, that aired on EWTN.
Click here to continue reading the full story at catholicregister.org.
- Details
vatican.va - The Holy Father Francis has granted his assent to the election by the Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church of the Reverend Andriy Khimyak as auxiliary bishop of the archeparchy of Kyiv, assigning him the titular see of Cuicul.
Curriculum vitae
Msgr. Khimyak was born on 13 April 1981 in Lviv.
From 1998 to 2005 he received his priestly formation at the Major Seminary of Lviv and, from 2005 to 2008, he studied liturgy at the Pontifical Oriental Institute, obtaining a licentiate.
On 9 May 2012 he was ordained a deacon and, on the following 4 November, priest, for the archeparchy of Kyiv.
From 2009 to 2021 he was assistant to the secretary of the Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church. Since 2021 he has held the role of secretary of the same Synod.
Since 2011 he has also served as lecturer in the Kyiv Theological Seminary of the Three Holy Hierarchs.
Besides Ukrainian, he speaks Italian, Russian and English. - 2022-11-03
- Details
vatican.va - The Holy Father has given his assent to the election by the Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church of the Reverend Maksim Ryabukha, S.D.B., as auxiliary bishop of the archepiscopal exarchate of Donetsk, assigning him the titular see of Stefaniacum.
Curriculum vitae
The Reverend Maksim Ryabukha was born on 18 May 1980 in Lviv. In 1998 he entered the Society of Saint Francis de Sales, and after his initial formation he completed his studies in philosophy and theology at the Pontifical Salesian University. In addition, he also trained in human resources management at the Interregional Academy, besides obtaining a master’s degree in school administration from the Lviv Polytechnic and a master’s degree in social pedagogy from the National University of Transcarpathia.
He was ordained a priest on 4 August 2007.
He has held a number of offices, including director of the school of catechetics of the parish of Pokrov of the Holy Mother of God in Lviv, head of the Oratory of the Salesian Community in Vynnyky, director of the Community in Dnipro, administrator of the parish of Saint John Chrysostom in Kiev, head of university pastoral ministry of the archeparchy of Kiev, local collaborator at the apostolic nunciature in Ukraine, lecturer in pedagogy at the Greek-Catholic major seminary in Kiev, and vicar of the Superior of the Ukrainian vice-province of the Salesians. - 2022-09-19
- Details
vatican.va - The Holy Father has accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the eparchy of Newton of the Greek-Melkites, United States of America, presented by Bishop Nicholas James Samra.
The Holy Father has appointed the Reverend François Beyrouti, of the clergy of the same eparchy, until now parish priest of the Holy Cross Melkite Catholic Church in Placentia, California, as bishop of the eparchy of Newton of the Greek-Melkites.
Curriculum vitae
Msgr. François Beyrouti was born on 3 July 1971 in Hadath-Beirut, Lebanon. After emigrating with his family to Canada, in Vancouver, British Columbia, he attended the Saint Thomas Aquinas Catholic High School. From 1989 to 1993 he studied in the Christ the King seminary in Mission, B.C. He was awarded a degree and doctorate in biblical theology from Saint Paul University, Ottawa, Ontario.
He was ordained a priest on 4 October 1998 for the eparchy of Saint-Sauveur de Montréal of the Greek-Melkites. He subsequently served as deputy parish priest of the Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Ottawa, member of the College of Consultors and head of youth pastoral care.
In December 2011 he was incardinated in the eparchy of Newton of the Greek-Melkites, where he was elected member of the Presbyteral Council and appointed as parish priest of the Holy Cross Melkite Catholic Church in Placentia, California.
Besides English, he knows French, German and Arabic.
- Appointment of the Apostolic Visitor for the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic faithful residing in Ireland and Northern Ireland
- Resignation and appointment of the Bishop of the Eparchy Saint Thomas the Apostle of Chicago of the Syro-Malabars (U.S.A.)
- Resignation of archbishop of Prešov for Catholics of Byzantine rite, Slovakia, and appointment of apostolic administrator sede vacante
- Patriarch Emeritus Gregorios III: Invitation to European Leaders to be Messengers of Peace