Pope Francis Appoints New Bishop For Byzantine Catholics Of Midwest U.S.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops announced this morning that Pope Francis has appointed the Very Rev. Robert Mark Pipta as the Sixth Bishop of the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Parma. Bishop-elect Robert succeeds the Most Rev. Milan Lach. SJ who served as the Fifth Bishop of Parma before being reassigned by Pope Francis to become an Auxiliary Bishop of the Eparchy of Bratislava, Slovakia.

Bishop-elect Robert was born on April 7, 1967, in Anaheim, California. He studied at the University of California at Irvine and earned a Bachelor’s Degree in music. He served as rector of the Byzantine Catholic Seminary of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Pittsburgh, PA. since 2014. He entered that seminary as a seminarian in 1990, and was ordained 4 years later on April 21, 1994, for the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Van Nuys (now Phoenix).

Bishop Kurt Burnette, Bishop of Passaic, and outgoing Apostolic Administrator of Parma, released a proclamation to the faithful of the eparchy, saying “I look forward to handing over the governance of the Eparchy to the new bishop, with confidence and peace of mind, knowing that he will be a good shepherd to his flock.”

Bishop-elect Robert will be consecrated as the new Bishop of Parma on Nov. 8, 2023, on the feast of St. Michael and the Holy Incorporeal Powers.

Thomas Payeur is a journalist based in Michigan.