Sept. 12, 2004

MAKING A POINT
Metropolitan Archbishop Basil M. Schott delivers the homily during his visit on the occasion of Holy Resurrection Byzantine Catholic Mission’s fifth anniversary.
Photo by Dan McWilliams

Metropolitan Archbishop Basil M. Schott, OFM, of Pittsburgh and Bishop Joseph E. Kurtz visited Holy Family Church in Seymour on Aug. 22 for the fifth-anniversary celebration of Holy Resurrection, the state’s only Byzantine Catholic mission.

Holy Resurrection parishioners and others from as far away as Nashville filled the church for the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, which has been celebrated at Holy Family since the Eastern Catholic parish was established in August 1999 as the Byzantine Catholic Community.

The 4 p.m. Sunday celebrations of the Divine Liturgy draw worshipers from far and wide. “It’s their only ritual, and they’re very loyal,” said Archbishop Schott. “But it could not be done without the kindness, generosity, and wonderful welcoming attitude of Holy Family Parish here in Seymour.”

Biritual priest Father Tom O’Connell, pastor of Holy Family, and Father John O’Neill of Holy Ghost Parish in Knoxville concelebrated the Divine Liturgy with the two bishops.

“We are extremely appreciative to Bishop Kurtz and to Father O’Connell for their support, generosity, and hospitality,” said Archbishop Schott. “We’ve had Byzantine Catholic people in Tennessee maybe for the past 50 years, but they were never really organized as a parish.

“This is the first one, and we’re hopeful that perhaps we could organize a mission or parish in Nashville, where we also have a group of Byzantine Catholics.”

Archbishop Schott leads the Byzantine–Ruthenian Archeparchy of Pittsburgh, one of four vast regions of the Eastern church in the United States. His predecessor, Archbishop Judson Procyk—in one of his final acts—elevated the Byzantine Catholic Community to a mission parish in spring 2001. Father O’Connell read Archbishop Procyk’s proclamation on Easter Sunday, April 15, that year. Archbishop Procyk died unexpectedly only nine days later.

The Seymour appearance was the second for Archbishop Schott.

“We are delighted that he has come to visit his mission,” Bishop Kurtz said after the Divine Liturgy. “For the last five years I’ve been extremely supportive of the work of Father O’Connell and the people of the Byzantine community for the regular Sunday liturgies.

“As soon as I received word of Archbishop Basil’s appointment [in 2001], the first thing I did was ask him what his intentions were, and he has been enthusiastic about the mission.”

Father O’Connell said that “as with any bishop’s visit, Archbishop Basil’s reminds us that we’re more than just the local parish—we’re also part of the larger portion of the church, a diocese, or in this case an eparchy or archeparchy.”

During a visit by the archbishop to another church, one person who met him thought he held a somewhat higher office in the church hierarchy, he revealed in his homily at Holy Family.

“A little girl asked me, ‘Are you God?’ I said, ‘No, I’m not. God has more hair.’ But I said to her, ‘If I were God, what would I say to you?’ She looked up at me with big eyes and said, ‘I love you.’”

The bishops who concelebrated the Divine Liturgy hail from neighboring counties in eastern Pennsylvania.

“Archbishop Basil is from a little town called Freeland, and I’m from a little town called Mahanoy City,” said Bishop Kurtz. “There’s only about 15 miles separating us.”

Mahanoy City natives are no strangers to the Eastern Catholic Church.

“In 1995 I visited the homeland of my father, which is in the very eastern part of Slovakia,” said Bishop Kurtz at a reception following the Divine Liturgy. “In the little village that my father’s family came from, there were both Latin- and Greek-rite churches. I realized how close was that connection, so close that it was just like Mahanoy City, where I grew up.”

Bishop Kurtz told those at the reception that “it is a delight to welcome all of you and to know of the great gift of the heritage of the Byzantine rite within East Tennessee. It is a gem and a jewel within our diocese, and we are very grateful.”