Auxiliary Bishop For Ukrainian Archeparchy Of Philadelphia Named Apostolic Administrator For Parma, Ohio, Eparchy
WASHINGTON—Pope Benedict XVI has named Auxiliary Bishop John Bura of the Archeparchy of Philadelphia of the Ukrainians, U.S.A., as apostolic administer of the vacant see of the Eparchy of St. Josephat in Parma of the Ukrainians, U.S.A.
The appointment was announced in Washington, July 29, by Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States.
The same day the pope accepted the resignation of Bishop Robert Mikhail Moskal, 71, from the pastoral care of the Parma Eparchy.
Bishop Bura, 65, was born June 12, 1944, in Wegeleben, Germany. His family emigrated to the United States in 1950, and settled in Jersey City, New Jersey.
In 1959, he entered St. Basil Minor Seminary in Stamford Connecticut. From 1965-1970 he pursued theological studies at St. Joseph Ukrainian Catholic Seminary and The Catholic University of America, in Washington.
John Bura was ordained a priest in 1971, for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia for Ukrainians. After several parish assignments he was named an auxiliary bishop of Philadelphia for Ukrainians, January 3, 2006.
Bishop Moskal was named first bishop of the Parma Eparchy in 1983. He was ordained a priest in 1963 and was founding pastor of St. Anne’s Church, Warrington, Pennsylvania, from 1963-1972. He served in other parish assignments in the archdiocese and in 1981, while chancellor of the Ukrainian Archdiocese of Philadelphia, was named auxiliary bishop there.
The Diocese of Parma has 10,685 Catholics. The jurisdiction covers the states of Ohio, Mississippi, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida and western Pennsylvania.