Holy Angels

Byzantine Catholic Church

THE BYZANTINE CATHOLIC CHURCH is comprised of disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ who belong to the Church in communion with the Pope of Rome and a church whose religious patrimony, distinct from that of Roman Catholics, took shape in fourth-century Byzantium (Constantinople; present-day Istanbul).  These Greek spiritual traditions were adapted from the rituals of ancient, east Mediterranean cities evangelized by apostles who were sent forth by our Lord to "make disciples of all nations."  These traditions were brought to the Slavic regions of Europe beginning in the ninth century.  “Greek Catholic” emigrants from Eastern Europe brought their Byzantine faith to the United States at the end of the nineteenth century.  Since then, several eparchies (dioceses) have been established to serve Byzantine Catholics in America.  Our eparchy is part of the Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh that grew from the faith of Ruthenian (Rusyn Slav) Catholics in America. The geographical boundaries of our eparchy encompass the thirteen western states including Alaska and Hawaii. In what is indeed missionary territory for the Byzantine Catholic Church, our small western American parishes continue to worship God within the context of a religious patrimony that stems from the earliest centuries of Christianity while sharing the faith, scripture, and seven sacraments of the Catholic Church and while serving faithful of various economic and ethnic backgrounds.

The Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh

The history of the Ruthenian Catholic Church in the United States began in the late 1880's with the immigration of numerous families and individuals from Eastern Europe.  As these people settled in various regions of the country, they began to build churches and request priests from their homeland.  There was, however, no central authority for the fledgling churches.  The early decades were spent in attempting to organize them into some sort of structure.  This effort was briefly aided by the appointment of Basilian Bishop Soter Stephen Ortynsky.  His premature death, however, left the young church once again without episcopal leadership.

It was not until 1924 that canonical status and recognition would be given to this young church with the appointment of Bishop Basil Takach on March 8th.  It was on this date that Rome established an exarchate for Greek Catholics of Carpatho-Ruthenian, Hungarian, Slovak, and Croatian descent.

This exarchate would continue to grow and flourish over the years.  Its continued development was recognized in 1963 when the Exarchate of Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) was raised to the status of an eparchy and divided to form the Eparchy of Passaic (New Jersey).

The continued growth and stability of the Ruthenian Catholic Church was again recognized in 1969 when an additional eparchy was created in Parma, Ohio and the entire church in America was raised to a Metropolia.

The Eparchy of Van Nuys

In 1981 the Eparchy of Van Nuys (California) was established for the Western United States.  Our parish is part of the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Van Nuys.  Our eparchy is part of the Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh which originally consisted of Ruthenian (Rusyn Slav) Catholics in America.  The geographical boundaries of our eparchy encompass the thirteen western states including Alaska and Hawaii.  In what is indeed missionary territory for the Byzantine Catholic Church, our western American parishes continue to worship God within the context of a religious patrimony which stems from the earliest centuries of Christianity while sharing the faith, scripture, and seven sacraments of the Catholic Church and while serving faithful of various economic and ethnic backgrounds.

Holy Angels Parish

Father Fetch worked cooperatively with the parishioners to organize the parish.  A house was purchased adjacent to the monastery to serve as rectory, office, social hall, a meeting place, and classrooms.  Planning and fund raising for a new parish complex began in 1971 and the present location was purchased in 1973.  An additional house at the edge of the new property was purchased in 1974 to serve as rectory, office, and classrooms.

Groundbreaking ceremonies for the church took place on November 9, 1975 and construction began on May 3, 1978.  The final Liturgy at the Carmelite Monastery took place on November 5, 1978, and the first liturgy in the new church was celebrated on November 12, 1978. 

Bishop Emil Mihalik blessed and dedicated the church on February 4, 1979. 

The parishioners responded to the task of paying the debt with sausage, baked goods, and pirohi sales, along with many other imaginative projects. Six years later the parish debt had been paid. 

Bishop Thomas Dolinay celebrated the Liturgy commemorating the Silver Anniversary of the founding of the parish on November 6, 1983.  The 40th Anniversary of the parish was celebrated in 1998 with Rt. Rev. Archimandrite Wesley Izer, SDB, officiating as the representative of Bishop George Kuzma. 

In 2005 work began on phase one of the parish's ambitious renovation project.  Necessary repairs as well as building and property enhancements comprised the majority of work in phase one.  Phase one was completed in January 2006.  The renovated hall was blessed and the generosity of our benefactors celebrated at a parish festival on February 19, 2006.

Holy Angels has progressed these past almost-50 years from a small group of pioneer families into a visible presence of our Byzantine faith on the West Coast.  The parish looks forward to celebrating their 50th anniversary in 2008.  At that time, it will begin raising funds for phase two of renovation.