Vatican appoints Ruthenian bishops in U.S.

Vatican City, Dec 6, 2007 / 10:22 am

Today the Vatican announced the appointment of two Ruthenian bishops in the United States: Bishop William Skurla and Msgr. Gerald Dino.

Ruthenian Catholics, under the Byzantine Eastern Rite, come from region of present-day Slovakia and Ukraine, and came into communion with Rome in 1646.

Bishop William C. Skurla of the eparchy of Van Nuys will shepherd the eparchy of Passaic.  His new eparchy will consist of 21,808 Catholics and 81 priests.  Eparchies are the rough equivalent of a diocese in the Roman rite.

Bishop Skurla was appointed as the third bishop of Van Nuys and will now succeed Bishop Andrew Pataki who recently resigned.

Msgr. Gerald N. Dino has been appointed as the head of the eparchy of Van Nuys.  The current administrator of the eparchy of Passaic and pastor of the Church of St. George in Linden, New Jersey was born in 1940 in Binghamton, NY and was ordained in 1965.  He will serve 2,862 Catholics and 24 priests.