Nicholas Elko
Encyclopedia
Nicholas Thomas Elko was the third bishop
of the Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh
, the American
branch of the Ruthenian Catholic Church
. At the age of 46 he became the first American-born Bishop of the Greek Catholic Church. He later served as Auxiliary Bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati
, Ohio
.
immigrant parents in Donora, Pennsylvania
, a steel town in the Monongahela River
Valley, he attended the public schools there and in 1930 graduated from Duquesne University
in Pittsburgh. He completed graduate theological studies at the Greek Catholic Seminary in Uzhhorod
and at the Catholic University of Leuven
in Belgium
. Bishop Basil Takach
ordained him to the priesthood on September 30, 1934 at St. Nicholas Greek Catholic Church in McKeesport, Pennsylvania
.
He next served as pastor in several parishes throughout the Exarchate and as the spiritual director of the Greek Catholic Union of the USA
, the oldest continuous fraternal benefit society
for Rusyn
immigrants and their descendants in the U.S. Elko also served in the administration of the Exarchate as Dean of the Cleveland Deanery, Consultor, and eventually as Vicar General. Pope Pius XII
in 1952 named him a domestic prelate with the title of Reverend Monsignor
. He was appointed that same year as the Rector
of the Exarchate's new seminary, the Byzantine Catholic Seminary of SS. Cyril and Methodius
.
Bishop Daniel Ivancho
appointed Elko in 1954 as the Rector of St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Cathedral
. Yet just three months later, Ivancho abruptly resigned as bishop, and the Holy See
directed Elko, as the Vicar General of the Exarchate, to administer it. On February 16, 1955 Archbishop Amleto Giovanni Cicognani, the Vatican's delegate to the United States, announced that Elko would be elevated to the episcopacy. On March 6, 1955 he was ordained as Bishop at St. Peter's Basilica
in Rome, Italy by Cardinal Eugène-Gabriel-Gervais-Laurent Tisserant
, Dean of the College of Cardinals
and the Secretary of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches
.
era. Bishop Elko sought to engage the new generation by leading change within the Exarchate. He immediately sought and was granted permission by Rome to permit English, in addition to the ancient liturgical language Old Slavonic
, to be used in the celebration of the Divine Liturgy
.
He next established in 1956 a new weekly newspaper, The Byzantine Catholic World
. The term "Byzantine Catholic" was relatively new and represented something of a re-branding for the Church. The term began in usage in the 1940s in an effort to clarify the ritual identification of the Church to the majority American Latin-Rite Catholics, replacing the traditional European appellation of "Greek Catholic". The Church roots were historically "Greek" in the sense that Christianity came to the Slavs in the 9th century by the missionary brothers Saint Cyril
and Saint Methodius. But the new name aimed to evoke the even older and more glorious history of Eastern Christianity in Constantinople
and the Byzantine Empire
.
Elko's administration also undertook the construction of more than one hundred churches and schools. However, in the spirit of modernism, Elko recommended that many traditional Byzantine architectural features, such iconostasis
, or as icon screens, be omitted or removed from the new or renovated churches. The Churches membership, largely in the northeastern United States, began to migrate to the West. Elko assigned priests to do organizational work there, and established new parishes in California and Alaska.
On July 6, 1963 the Vatican upgraded the status of the church from Exarchate to Eparchy, or diocese
according the Latin-Rite terminology. A decree by the newly-elected Pope Paul VI
divided the entire U.S. territory of the Church into two separate ecclesiastical jurisdictions. The first, centered in Passaic, New Jersey
, included the Eastern states and the second jurisdiction, centered in Pittsburgh, included the rest of the nation. Both jurisdictions now held the canonical status of an eparchy or a full diocese. Elko continued as the American Church's senior hierarch, but a new bishop, Stephen Kocisko
, was installed for Passaic.
. It issued a decree, promulgated by Paul VI on November 21, 1964, titled Orientalium Ecclesiarum. The new policy underscored the richness of the Eastern Rite churches and respect for them. It urged Eastern Rites to return to the roots of their distinctive rituals and to avoid Latinization of their practices.
The decree heartened conservatives in the Byzantine Church, and to many seemed a repudiation of Elko's "reforms", particularly during the building boom of the previous years.
Time Magazine reported on the unusual situation, noting that a "bishop is almost never separated from his see. For the past seven months, however, the Most Rev. Nicholas T. Elko, Ruthenian-rite bishop of Pittsburgh, has been in Rome, barred by his church superiors from returning to his diocese. The case of Bishop Elko, who describes his situation as 'exile', casts fascinating light on Catholicism's current internal stresses....". Three years later, the Vatican sent Elko back to the U.S., but not to his Byzantine Church.
He wrote an historical novel at this time, which was published posthumously in 1994. White Heat Over Red Fire features Thomas Christophe, a young Eastern Rite Catholic Bishop ministering in post-war Austria
. The novel makes much of the intrigues of the Cold War
years, the struggles of the Church in Eastern Europe, the attempts to reconcile the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, and the upheaval within the Catholic Church in the wake of Vatican II.
Elko died on May 18, 1991, aged 81.
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of the Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh
Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh
The Byzantine Catholic Metropolia of Pittsburgh is an autonomous Byzantine Rite particular church of the Catholic Church, originally serving members of the Ruthenian Catholic Church and their descendants in the United States...
, the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
branch 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...
. At the age of 46 he became the first American-born Bishop of the Greek Catholic Church. He later served as Auxiliary Bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati covers the southwest region of the U.S. state of Ohio, including the greater Cincinnati and Dayton metropolitan areas. The Archbishop of Cincinnati is Most Rev...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
.
Early life
Born on December 14, 1909 to RusynRusyns
Carpatho-Rusyns are a primarily diasporic ethnic group who speak an Eastern Slavic language, or Ukrainian dialect, known as Rusyn. Carpatho-Rusyns descend from a minority of Ruthenians who did not adopt the use of the ethnonym "Ukrainian" in the early twentieth century...
immigrant parents in Donora, Pennsylvania
Donora, Pennsylvania
Donora is a borough in Washington County, Pennsylvania, south of Pittsburgh on the Monongahela river. Donora was incorporated in 1901. Donora got its name from a combination of William Donner and Nora Mellon, banker Andrew W. Mellon's wife. Agriculture, coal-mining, steel-making, wire-making, and...
, a steel town in the Monongahela River
Monongahela River
The Monongahela River is a river on the Allegheny Plateau in north-central West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania in the United States...
Valley, he attended the public schools there and in 1930 graduated from Duquesne University
Duquesne University
Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit is a private Catholic university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded by members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, Duquesne first opened its doors as the Pittsburgh Catholic College of the Holy Ghost in October 1878 with an enrollment of...
in Pittsburgh. He completed graduate theological studies at the Greek Catholic Seminary in Uzhhorod
Uzhhorod
Uzhhorod or Uzhgorod is a city located in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. It is the administrative center of the Zakarpattia Oblast , as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Uzhhorodskyi Raion within the oblast...
and at the Catholic University of Leuven
Catholic University of Leuven
The Catholic University of Leuven, or of Louvain, was the largest, oldest and most prominent university in Belgium. The university was founded in 1425 as the University of Leuven by John IV, Duke of Brabant and approved by a Papal bull by Pope Martin V.During France's occupation of Belgium in the...
in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
. Bishop Basil Takach
Basil Takach
Basil Takach was the first bishop of the Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh, the American branch of the Ruthenian Catholic Church.-Early life:...
ordained him to the priesthood on September 30, 1934 at St. Nicholas Greek Catholic Church in McKeesport, Pennsylvania
McKeesport, Pennsylvania
McKeesport is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, in the United States; it is located at the confluence of the Monongahela and Youghiogheny rivers and is part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area. The population was 19,731 at the 2010 census...
.
He next served as pastor in several parishes throughout the Exarchate and as the spiritual director of the Greek Catholic Union of the USA
Greek Catholic Union of the USA
The Greek Catholic Union of the USA is the oldest continuous fraternal benefit society for Rusyn immigrants and their descendants in the United States....
, the oldest continuous fraternal benefit society
Benefit society
A benefit society or mutual aid society is an organization or voluntary association formed to provide mutual aid, benefit or insurance for relief from sundry difficulties...
for Rusyn
Rusyns
Carpatho-Rusyns are a primarily diasporic ethnic group who speak an Eastern Slavic language, or Ukrainian dialect, known as Rusyn. Carpatho-Rusyns descend from a minority of Ruthenians who did not adopt the use of the ethnonym "Ukrainian" in the early twentieth century...
immigrants and their descendants in the U.S. Elko also served in the administration of the Exarchate as Dean of the Cleveland Deanery, Consultor, and eventually as Vicar General. Pope Pius XII
Pope Pius XII
The Venerable Pope Pius XII , born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli , reigned as Pope, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State, from 2 March 1939 until his death in 1958....
in 1952 named him a domestic prelate with the title of Reverend Monsignor
Monsignor
Monsignor, pl. monsignori, is the form of address for those members of the clergy of the Catholic Church holding certain ecclesiastical honorific titles. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian monsignore, from the French mon seigneur, meaning "my lord"...
. He was appointed that same year as the Rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
of the Exarchate's new seminary, the Byzantine Catholic Seminary of SS. Cyril and Methodius
Byzantine Catholic Seminary of SS. Cyril and Methodius
The Byzantine Catholic Seminary of SS. Cyril and Methodius is a degree-granting school of theology in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States which prepares candidates for priestly ministry to the Byzantine Catholic churches of North America....
.
Bishop Daniel Ivancho
Daniel Ivancho
Daniel Ivancho was the third bishop of the Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh, the American branch of the Ruthenian Catholic Church.-Early life:...
appointed Elko in 1954 as the Rector of St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Cathedral
St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Cathedral (Pittsburgh)
St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Cathedral is the mother church of Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh, the American branch of the Ruthenian Catholic Church...
. Yet just three months later, Ivancho abruptly resigned as bishop, and the Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
directed Elko, as the Vicar General of the Exarchate, to administer it. On February 16, 1955 Archbishop Amleto Giovanni Cicognani, the Vatican's delegate to the United States, announced that Elko would be elevated to the episcopacy. On March 6, 1955 he was ordained as Bishop at St. Peter's Basilica
St. Peter's Basilica
The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter , officially known in Italian as ' and commonly known as Saint Peter's Basilica, is a Late Renaissance church located within the Vatican City. Saint Peter's Basilica has the largest interior of any Christian church in the world...
in Rome, Italy by Cardinal Eugène-Gabriel-Gervais-Laurent Tisserant
Eugène-Gabriel-Gervais-Laurent Tisserant
Eugène Tisserant was a French Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Elevated to the cardinalate in 1936, Tisserant was a prominent and long-time member of the Roman Curia. He was also, for a time, Grand Master of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre...
, Dean of the College of Cardinals
Dean of the College of Cardinals
The Dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals is the president of the College of Cardinals in the Roman Catholic Church, and as such always holds the rank of Cardinal Bishop. The Dean is not necessarily the longest-serving member of the whole College...
and the Secretary of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches
Congregation for the Oriental Churches
The Congregation for the Oriental Churches is the dicastery of the Roman Curia responsible for contact with the Eastern Catholic Churches for the sake of assisting their development, protecting their rights and also maintaining whole and entire in the one Catholic Church, alongside the liturgical,...
.
Episcopate of Bishop Elko
The formerly immigrant Ruthenian Church was by the 1950s now overwhelmingly American-born and modernizing rapidly in the post-World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
era. Bishop Elko sought to engage the new generation by leading change within the Exarchate. He immediately sought and was granted permission by Rome to permit English, in addition to the ancient liturgical language Old Slavonic
Old Slavonic
Old Slavonic may refer to:*Old Church Slavonic language*Common Slavonic language...
, to be used in the celebration of the Divine Liturgy
Divine Liturgy
Divine Liturgy is the common term for the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine tradition of Christian liturgy. As such, it is used in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches. Armenian Christians, both of the Armenian Apostolic Church and of the Armenian Catholic Church, use the same term...
.
He next established in 1956 a new weekly newspaper, The Byzantine Catholic World
Byzantine Catholic World
The Byzantine Catholic World is the official newspaper of the Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
. The term "Byzantine Catholic" was relatively new and represented something of a re-branding for the Church. The term began in usage in the 1940s in an effort to clarify the ritual identification of the Church to the majority American Latin-Rite Catholics, replacing the traditional European appellation of "Greek Catholic". The Church roots were historically "Greek" in the sense that Christianity came to the Slavs in the 9th century by the missionary brothers Saint Cyril
Saints Cyril and Methodius
Saints Cyril and Methodius were two Byzantine Greek brothers born in Thessaloniki in the 9th century. They became missionaries of Christianity among the Slavic peoples of Bulgaria, Great Moravia and Pannonia. Through their work they influenced the cultural development of all Slavs, for which they...
and Saint Methodius. But the new name aimed to evoke the even older and more glorious history of Eastern Christianity in Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
and the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
.
Elko's administration also undertook the construction of more than one hundred churches and schools. However, in the spirit of modernism, Elko recommended that many traditional Byzantine architectural features, such iconostasis
Iconostasis
In Eastern Christianity an iconostasis is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a church. Iconostasis also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed anywhere within a church...
, or as icon screens, be omitted or removed from the new or renovated churches. The Churches membership, largely in the northeastern United States, began to migrate to the West. Elko assigned priests to do organizational work there, and established new parishes in California and Alaska.
Rome upgrades the American Church's status
Since its inception in 1924 as the "Apostolic Exarchate of United States of America, Faithful of the Oriental Rite (Ruthenian)", the organizational status of Elko's American Greek Catholic Church was merely that of a missionary territory with limited self-governing authority, the homeland being Europe—albeit under Communist persecution since 1946.On July 6, 1963 the Vatican upgraded the status of the church from Exarchate to Eparchy, or diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
according the Latin-Rite terminology. A decree by the newly-elected Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI
Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...
divided the entire U.S. territory of the Church into two separate ecclesiastical jurisdictions. The first, centered in Passaic, New Jersey
Passaic, New Jersey
Passaic is a city in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 69,781, maintaining its status as the 15th largest municipality in New Jersey with an increase of 1,920 residents from the 2000 Census population of 67,861...
, included the Eastern states and the second jurisdiction, centered in Pittsburgh, included the rest of the nation. Both jurisdictions now held the canonical status of an eparchy or a full diocese. Elko continued as the American Church's senior hierarch, but a new bishop, Stephen Kocisko
Stephen Kocisko
Stephen John Kocisko was the first Metropolitan Archbishop of the Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh, the American branch of the Ruthenian Catholic Church-Early life:...
, was installed for Passaic.
The Second Vatican Council and the Eastern Catholic Churches
Elko was appointed a Consultor to the Congregation for the Oriental Churches and took part in the proceedings, held in Rome from 1962–1965, of the Second Vatican CouncilSecond Vatican Council
The Second Vatican Council addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed...
. It issued a decree, promulgated by Paul VI on November 21, 1964, titled Orientalium Ecclesiarum. The new policy underscored the richness of the Eastern Rite churches and respect for them. It urged Eastern Rites to return to the roots of their distinctive rituals and to avoid Latinization of their practices.
The decree heartened conservatives in the Byzantine Church, and to many seemed a repudiation of Elko's "reforms", particularly during the building boom of the previous years.
Controversy
By 1967, Elko's popularity within his own Church waned on account of the rapid change he led, the confusion among laity around many Vatican II reforms, and especially Elko's authoritative management style. Whether priest or laity, liberal or conservative, many in the Church were agitated by Elko's leadership. Petitions were signed and sent off to Rome. The Vatican, fearing more dissension in the Church like that experienced during the 1930s, transferred Elko to Rome, where he was elevated to the dignity of an Archbishop and appointed as the ordaining prelate for the Byzantine Catholics in Rome and head of the Ecumenical Commission on the Liturgy. This prompted his resignation as Byzantine Catholic Bishop of Pittsburgh, and Monsignor Edward V. Rosack, the Chancellor of the Eparchy, was named as the temporary apostolic administrator.Time Magazine reported on the unusual situation, noting that a "bishop is almost never separated from his see. For the past seven months, however, the Most Rev. Nicholas T. Elko, Ruthenian-rite bishop of Pittsburgh, has been in Rome, barred by his church superiors from returning to his diocese. The case of Bishop Elko, who describes his situation as 'exile', casts fascinating light on Catholicism's current internal stresses....". Three years later, the Vatican sent Elko back to the U.S., but not to his Byzantine Church.
Transition: The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati
In 1970 Archbishop Elko started anew as an auxiliary bishop in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati. He served in this capacity for fourteen years, and upon reaching his seventy-fifth birthday, retired.He wrote an historical novel at this time, which was published posthumously in 1994. White Heat Over Red Fire features Thomas Christophe, a young Eastern Rite Catholic Bishop ministering in post-war Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. The novel makes much of the intrigues of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
years, the struggles of the Church in Eastern Europe, the attempts to reconcile the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, and the upheaval within the Catholic Church in the wake of Vatican II.
Elko died on May 18, 1991, aged 81.