William C. Skurla

William Charles Skurla (born June 1, 1956) is the Archeparch (or Archbishop) of the Archeparchy of Pittsburgh in the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church. He is also, ex officio, the metropolitan bishop of the Metropolis of Pittsburgh whose geographic remit includes the entire United States and Canada. He succeeded Archbishop Basil Myron Schott. Skurla was appointed as metropolitan on January 19, 2012, by Pope Benedict XVI and enthroned at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Munhall, Pennsylvania, on April 18, 2012.

Biography William Charles Skurla was born in Duluth, Minnesota, on June 1, 1956. He graduated from Chisholm High School in Chisholm, Minnesota, in 1974, and received a philosophy degree from Columbia University in 1981. Skurla also studied at the Mary Immaculate Seminary, receiving Master of Divinity and Master of Theology degrees in 1986 and 1987, respectively. He joined a Byzantine Catholic Franciscan community in Sybertsville, Pennsylvania, in 1981 and became a professed member in 1985. Skurla was ordained as a deacon in 1986 and as a priest in 1987 at the St. Mary Byzantine Catholic Church in Freeland, Pennsylvania. From 1996 to 2002 he was the pastoral administrator of the St. Melany Byzantine Catholic Church in Tucson, Arizona.

He was consecrated as a bishop on April 23, 2002, becoming the third bishop of the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Van Nuys, and in December 2007 he was appointed as the fourth Bishop of the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Passaic. Skurla was enthroned as bishop of the Eparchy of Passaic at the St. Michael Cathedral in Passaic, New Jersey, on January 29, 2008. He was named by Pope Benedict XVI as the fifth Metropolitan of the Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church in North America and eighth Archbishop of the Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh on January 19, 2012. William Skurla was enthroned as metropolitan on April 18, 2012.