WOODLAND PARK, New Jersey (Tuesday, October 29, 2013) – The Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganó announced today from Washington, D.C. that the Holy Father Pope Francis has appointed the Very Reverend Kurt Burnette, Rector of the Byzantine Catholic Seminary of Saints Cyril and Methodius in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as fifth Bishop of the Eparchy of Passaic.
The official appointment was announced from Rome at 12:00 noon on Tuesday, October 29, 2013.
Bishop-elect Kurt will be enthroned in Passaic on Wednesday, December 4, 2013.
The Bishop-elect was ordained a priest at St. Mary Cathedral in Sherman Oaks, California, for the Eparchy of the Holy Protection of Mary in Phoenix on April 26, 1989 by the late Bishop John M. Bilock. He served as pastor in several parishes including Saint Nicholas of Myra, Fontana, California; Saint Irene the Virgin and Great Martyr, Portland, Oregon; Saint Gabriel the Archangel, Las Vegas, Nevada and Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Albuquerque, New Mexico. He also served as Chaplain for the Fontana (CA) Police Department and regularly visited jails and prisons in California, Oregon, Washington, and New Mexico. He served his eparchy as Economos and Consultor from 1991 till 1994. He served as tribunal official for his own eparchy, and also for the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, the Diocese of Phoenix, and the Diocese of Gallup. His appointment as Rector of Saints Cyril and Methodius Seminary was made in October, 2012.
Bishop-elect Burnette received a doctorate in mathematics from the University of Utahand taught mathematics, engineering, physics, and computer science from 1978 until 2004 at University of Utah, University of California at Irvine, California State University at San Bernardino, and University of Portland. He is a member of the California Bar Association and has a licentiate in Canon Law from the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome.
Born at Sculthorpe Royal Air Force Base, Norfolk, England, in 1955, Bishop-elect Burnette grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas, and Houston, Texas. He has two sisters, and a brother, and nine nephews and nieces. His father is from Los Angeles, California and his mother is from Marietta, Ohio. They reside in Corpus Christi, Texas. The Bishop-elect attended St. Patrick School, Hamlin Junior High School, and Ray High School in Corpus Christi; and The Kinkaid School and Rice University in Houston, Texas.
The Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Passaic stretches the entire length of the East Coast of the US, from Maine to Florida encompassing sixteen Atlantic states including Eastern Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia. The Eparchy has 14,356 parishioners and 77 priests in 84 parishes.