Joseph R. Kopacz

Joseph Richard Kopacz (born September 16, 1950) is an American Catholic prelate who has served as Bishop of Jackson since 2014.

Biography

Early life and education Joseph Kopacz was born in Dunmore, Pennsylvania. He is the son of Stanley and Carmella Calomino Kopacz. He is the second of three children with a brother, Robert, and a sister, Mary Ellen Negri. Joseph Kopacz is a graduate of Dunmore Central Catholic High School. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts in history from the University of Scranton in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Kopacz then entered the Seminary of Christ the King in Buffalo, New York, where he obtained a Master of Theology degree.

Priesthood Kopacz was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Scranton on May 7, 1977, at St. Peter's Cathedral in Scranton by Bishop Joseph McCormick.

After his ordination, the diocese assigned Kopacz as parochial vicar of Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish in Brodheadsville, Pennsylvania, and Epiphany Parish in Sayre, Pennsylvania. He also served as administrator of St. Patrick's Parish in Nicholson, Pennsylvania. He was moved from these three parishes in 1980 to Saint Pius X Seminary in Dalton, Pennsylvania, to be a faculty member. Kopacz spent the next ten years at Saint Pius. Kopacz only revealed the fraud when local authorities started a criminal investigation in 2018. Vargas, who had previously fled to Mexico, was indicted in July 2020 on 10 counts of wire fraud.