Stephen (Dzubay) of Pittsburgh
Encyclopedia
The Right Reverend Bishop Stephen (Dzubay) of Pittsburgh (February 27, 1857-1933) was a bishop of the Russian American Metropolia
, then known as the Russian Orthodox Archdiocese of the Aleutian Islands and North America, between 1916 and 1924. He had served as an Eastern Catholic priest in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
, prior to his reception into Orthodoxy, and had been a schoolmate of St. Alexis Toth in their native land.
After his marriage he entered the Holy Orders and was ordained a deacon and then a priest followed by his assignment to a parish in Lokhovo. After his wife died in November 1881, Fr. Alexander was assigned as the second priest of Trinity Church in Uzhgorod. In 1887, Fr. Alexander accompanied the Metropolitan of Sembratov visited Rome for a papal jubilee.
In 1887, Fr. Alexander came to the United States and took an assignment to an Eastern Catholic parish in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Having been married, Fr. Alexander came under attack by the celibate Roman Catholic clergy as he traveled, organizing parishes to serve the immigrant faithful from Europe. For his activities among the Eastern Catholic parishes, Fr. Alexander was chosen their vicar by the Uniate clergy. Becoming disillusioned by the Eastern Catholic Church, Fr. Alexander decided to become an Orthodox. On July 30, 1916, Fr. Alexander was received into the Orthodox Church.
With his reception by the Russian hierarchy in America, Fr. Alexander was tonsure
d as a monk
with the name Stephen. Then on August 7, 1916, he was consecrated Bishop of Pittsburgh, an auxiliary bishop, to minister to the needs of the Carpatho-Russians, formerly members of the Ruthenian Catholic Church
, whose parishes numbered over 160 when he was received (out of roughly 200 total Russian Orthodox parishes in the American Lower 48). After only eight years of service in the episcopacy, however, Bp. Stephen returned to the Eastern Catholic Church, with hopes of heading a diocese, and the Carpatho-Russian ethnic diocese of the Metropolia was dissolved.
With his advancing age, Bp. Stephen, however, retired to a Roman Catholic monastery in Graymoor, New York, where he died in 1933.
Orthodox Church in America
The Orthodox Church in America is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in North America. Its primate is Metropolitan Jonah , who was elected on November 12, 2008, and was formally installed on December 28, 2008...
, then known as the Russian Orthodox Archdiocese of the Aleutian Islands and North America, between 1916 and 1924. He had served as an Eastern Catholic priest in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Wilkes-Barre is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, the county seat of Luzerne County. It is at the center of the Wyoming Valley area and is one of the principal cities in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area, which had a population of 563,631 as of the 2010 Census...
, prior to his reception into Orthodoxy, and had been a schoolmate of St. Alexis Toth in their native land.
Life
The son of Fr. Stephen and Justine Dzubay, Alexander Dzubay was born on February 27, 1857 in Kalnik, Berezhanents, in the Carpatho-Russian region of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He attended school at the gymnasium in Uzhgorod before entering the Uniate Uzhgorod Theological Seminary. After his graduation in 1880, Fr. Alexander married Andrea Chuchka, the daughter of a priest.After his marriage he entered the Holy Orders and was ordained a deacon and then a priest followed by his assignment to a parish in Lokhovo. After his wife died in November 1881, Fr. Alexander was assigned as the second priest of Trinity Church in Uzhgorod. In 1887, Fr. Alexander accompanied the Metropolitan of Sembratov visited Rome for a papal jubilee.
In 1887, Fr. Alexander came to the United States and took an assignment to an Eastern Catholic parish in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Having been married, Fr. Alexander came under attack by the celibate Roman Catholic clergy as he traveled, organizing parishes to serve the immigrant faithful from Europe. For his activities among the Eastern Catholic parishes, Fr. Alexander was chosen their vicar by the Uniate clergy. Becoming disillusioned by the Eastern Catholic Church, Fr. Alexander decided to become an Orthodox. On July 30, 1916, Fr. Alexander was received into the Orthodox Church.
With his reception by the Russian hierarchy in America, Fr. Alexander was tonsure
Tonsure
Tonsure is the traditional practice of Christian churches of cutting or shaving the hair from the scalp of clerics, monastics, and, in the Eastern Orthodox Church, all baptized members...
d as a monk
Monk
A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...
with the name Stephen. Then on August 7, 1916, he was consecrated Bishop of Pittsburgh, an auxiliary bishop, to minister to the needs of the Carpatho-Russians, formerly members of the Ruthenian Catholic Church
Ruthenian Catholic Church
The Ruthenian Catholic Church is a sui iuris Eastern Catholic Church , which uses the Divine Liturgy of the Constantinopolitan Byzantine Eastern Rite. Its roots are among the Rusyns who lived in the region called Carpathian Ruthenia, in and around the Carpathian Mountains...
, whose parishes numbered over 160 when he was received (out of roughly 200 total Russian Orthodox parishes in the American Lower 48). After only eight years of service in the episcopacy, however, Bp. Stephen returned to the Eastern Catholic Church, with hopes of heading a diocese, and the Carpatho-Russian ethnic diocese of the Metropolia was dissolved.
With his advancing age, Bp. Stephen, however, retired to a Roman Catholic monastery in Graymoor, New York, where he died in 1933.
External links
- Stephen (Dzubay) of Pittsburgh at OrthodoxWiki