A special ceremony took place in Parma Saturday to officially install the man Pope Francis selected to lead Byzantine Catholics throughout Ohio and much of the Midwestern United States.
His Grace Milan Lach, SJ, became the fifth Bishop of the Eparchy of Parma, having been appointed to the position by the Pope on June 1. Bishops from across the U.S. (including Cleveland's Nelson Perez) and Eastern Europe attended, and Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the U.S., presided over the ceremony at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.
PHOTOS | Milan Pach installed as new Eparch of Parma
Besides Ohio, the Eparchy of Parma serves roughly 8,000 Ruthenian Catholics in Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Bishop Lach had served as the eparchy's apostolic administrator for the past year, and at 44, is now among the 20 youngest Catholic bishops.
Born in 1973 in what at the time was socialist Czechoslovakia, Lach was ordained a Jesuit priests in 2001 and earned his master's and doctorate from the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome. Prior to coming to Northeast Ohio, he served Auxiliary Bishop of Presov, Slovakia.
"[He's] very spiritual, very pastoral," Bishop Perez said. "We have gotten to know each other quite well in the past year...They are certainly blessed to have him as their bishop."
The Ruthenian Byzantine Catholic Church is one of 23 Eastern churches that, together with the much larger Roman (or Latin) Catholic Church, form the universal Catholic Church. While some of the traditions and customs differ, all share near universal Catholic theology and answer to the Pope, while members of all rights make attend Mass and receive communion in any of the others.
