Most Reverend Giorgio Demetrio Gallaro | |
---|---|
Secretary of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches | |
Appointed | 25 February 2020 |
Term ended | 15 February 2023 |
Predecessor | Cyril Vasiľ |
Successor | Michel Jalakh |
Orders | |
Ordination | 22 May 1972 |
Consecration | 28 June 2015 |
Personal details | |
Born | |
Denomination | Italo-Albanian Catholic |
Previous post(s) | Bishop of Piana degli Albanesi (2015–2020) |
Coat of arms |
Giorgio Demetrio Gallaro (born 16 January 1948) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who served as secretary of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches from 25 February 2020 until 15 February 2023. He was the Bishop of the Eparchy of Piana degli Albanesi, a diocese of the Italo-Albanian Catholic Church in Sicily, Italy from 2015 to 2020, where he remained Apostolic Administrator until 19 June 2023.
Gallaro was born in Pozzallo, Sicily, on 16 January 1948. He began his studies in preparation for the priesthood in the seminary of Noto, he moved to Los Angeles where he studied at St. John's Seminary and was ordained a priest in 1972. He then worked for eight years as a parish priest in two parishes of the Eastern Rite in Los Angeles. He then studied in Rome at the Pontifical Oriental Institute of Rome and at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, obtaining his doctorate in canonical eastern law and a licenciate in ecumenical theology. [1]
He then carried out parish and teaching activities in the Melkite Greek Catholic Eparchy of Newton, Newton, Massachusetts, including as in-house instructor of canon law to the Melkite seminarians residing at St. Gregory's seminary in Newton Centre, MA. He was also active in the Ukrainian Eparchy of Stamford, Connecticut, and in the Ruthenian Archeparchy of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Beginning in 2011 he was vice-president of the Society of Oriental Law. In 2013 he was named a consultor to the Congregation for the Oriental Churches. He continued to hold several other positions, including sincello for canonical affairs and judicial vicar in the Archeparchy of Pittsburgh, professor of canon law and ecumenical theology at the Byzantine Catholic Seminary of Saints Cyril and Methodius of Pittsburgh, and judge of appeal for the Philadelphia Archeparchy of the Ukrainians. [1]
On 31 March 2015 he was named by Pope Francis to the bishopric of the Eparchy of Piana degli Albanesi. [1] [2] He was consecrated a bishop on 28 June by the bishop of Lungro Donato Oliverio as principal consecrator, and the bishops Dimitrios Salachas and Nicholas James Samra as co-consecrators.
On 25 February 2020, Pope Francis appointed him secretary of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches and gave him the personal title of archbishop. [3] He held that post until Pope Francis appointed Michel Jalakh as secretary. [4]
The Melkite Greek Catholic Church, or Melkite Byzantine Catholic Church, is an Eastern Catholic church in full communion with the Holy See as part of the worldwide Catholic Church. Its chief pastor is Patriarch Youssef Absi, headquartered at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Dormition in Damascus, Syria. The Melkites, who are Byzantine Rite Catholics, trace their history to the early Christians of Antioch, formerly part of Syria and now in Turkey, of the 1st century AD, where Christianity was introduced by Saint Peter.
The Metropolis of Pittsburgh is a sui juris metropolitan see of the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church that is located in the United States of America and Canada. The Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church is one of 23 sui juris Eastern Catholic particular churches in the Catholic Church that is in full communion with the Holy See. The metropolis uses the Byzantine Rite in its liturgies. It was erected as a metropolis (archdiocese) by Pope Paul VI in 1969. The metropolis has jurisdiction over those communities that originated from the regions of Carpathian Ruthenia, Slovakia, Hungary and the former Yugoslavia. Worshipers come from several Byzantine Catholic groups: Rusyn Americans, Slovak Americans, Hungarian Americans, and Croatian Americans. In 2022, governance of the Exarchate of Saints Cyril and Methodius of Toronto in Canada passed to the metropolis of Pittsburgh from the Slovak Greek Catholic Church.
Melkite Greek Catholic Eparchy of Newton is a Melkite Greek Catholic Church ecclesiastical territory of the Catholic Church. The eparchy is named for Newton, Massachusetts, and encompasses the entire United States. There are, however, currently about fifty Melkite parishes, missions, and "outreaches," in about two dozen states.
Nicholas James Samra is the eparchial bishop emeritus of the Melkite Catholic Eparchy of Newton in the United States. He is also Apostolic Administrator of the Melkite Greek Catholic Eparchy of Nuestra Señora del Paraíso in Mexico City since 2015. Bishop Samra has written extensively on the subject of ecumenism and the Eastern Catholic Churches.
Justin Najmy was the first bishop for the United States in the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. Appointed exarch for the newly created Melkite diocese in the United States, Bishop Najmy served for two years before his death at age 70.
Francesco Marco Nicola Monterisi is an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church, who worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See from 1964 to 1998 and then held senior positions in the Roman Curia until he retired in 2014.
Gabriel Acacius Coussa, BA was a Syrian Melkite Catholic archbishop, expert in canon law and cardinal. He served as secretary of the Congregation for the Eastern Churches and was the first Eastern Catholic to hold this position.
The Eparchy of Passaic is an eparchy (diocese) of the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church on the Atlantic seaboard of the United States. Its episcopal seat is the Cathedral of St. Michael the Archangel in Passaic, New Jersey. As an Eastern Catholic church, it uses the Byzantine Rite in its services. The Eparchy was erected July 6, 1963.
The Eparchy of Parma is an eparchy (diocese) of the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church in the midwestern part of the United States. Its episcopal seat is the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Parma, Ohio. The eparchy's liturgies utilize the Byzantine Rite.
The Eparchy of Piana degli Albanesi is a eparchy (diocese) of the Italo-Albanian Catholic Church, Eastern Catholic sui iuris of Byzantine Rite, covering the island of Sicily in Italy.
Cyril Vasiľ S.J. is a Slovak Jesuit who has been eparch (bishop) of the Eparchy of Košice in the Slovak Greek Catholic Church since June 2021, after serving as apostolic administrator there for 16 months. He continues to enjoy the personal title of archbishop. He held leadership positions at the Pontifical Oriental Institute from 2002 to 2008. He was made a titular archbishop in 2009 and held that title while serving as secretary of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches from 2009 to 2020 and while apostolic administrator of Košice.
The Italo-Albanian Catholic Church or Italo-Albanian Byzantine-Catholic Church is one of the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches which, together with the Latin Church, compose the Catholic Church. It is an autonomous (sui juris) particular church in full communion with the Pope of Rome, directly subject to the Roman Dicastery for the Oriental Churches, but which follows the Byzantine Rite, the ritual and spiritual traditions that are common in most of the Eastern Orthodox Church. It uses two liturgical languages: Koine Greek, the traditional language of the Eastern Churches, and Albanian, the native language of most of its adherents.
Joseph Gébara is a Lebanese Catholic archeparch of the Byzantine Rite, and current Archeparch of the Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Petra and Philadelphia in Amman.
Francesco Montenegro is an Italian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the Archbishop of Agrigento from 2008 until 2021. Pope Francis made him a cardinal on 14 February 2015.
Michel Abrass, BA is a retired church official who was Archbishop of the Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Tyre from 2014 to 2021.
Elie Bechara Haddad, BS is a Lebanese prelate of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church who has been the Archeparch of the Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Sidon since 2007.
The Exarchate of Saints Cyril and Methodius of Toronto is a ecclesiastical territory or exarchate that serves the Slovak Greek Catholic Church — a sui juris or self governing Eastern Catholic Church. Its geographical remit includes the whole territory of Canada. In 2022, Pope Francis transferred the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the exarchate from the Slovak Greek Catholic Church to the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church. It became part of the ecclesiastical Metropolis of Pittsburgh. This changed the territory's status from an eparchy to an exarchate at the same time.
John Stephen Pazak, C.Ss.R. is an American-born member of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, commonly known as the Redemptorists, who served as an eparch of the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church. He served as the Eparch of the Eparchy of Phoenix, which is based in Phoenix, Arizona from July 2016 until his retirement in 2021.
The Cathedral of the Nativity of the Mother of God is the cathedral church of the Exarchate of Saints Cyril and Methodius of Toronto, located on Shaw Street in Toronto, Canada. Ministering to members of the Slovak Byzantine Catholic Church exarchate, it falls under the jurisdiction of the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church.
Robert Mark Pipta is an American Ruthenian Catholic prelate who serves as Eparch of Parma. He was previously rector of Byzantine Catholic Seminary of Saints Cyril and Methodius in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.