St. John Chrysostom Byzantine Catholic Church (Pittsburgh)
Encyclopedia
St. John Chrysostom Byzantine Catholic Church is a historic Eastern Catholic church in Pittsburgh
, Pennsylvania
, United States
. It is located in the neighborhood of Four Mile Run
, which is an isolated section of Greenfield
at the bottom of Junction Hollow
. Its address is 506 Saline Street.
Today it is best known for having been the family church of the artist
Andy Warhol
. Because it faces the heavily traveled Interstate 376
, or Parkway East, it is an architectural landmark for many commuters who look upon its onion dome
s and Slavic-style crosses
.
, the American branch of the Ruthenian Catholic Church
, St. John Chrysostom Church was established in 1910 by Rusyn
immigrants from the Carpathian Mountains
. Most came to work in Pittsburgh's steel industry. Large numbers of Rusyns settled in a small valley called Four Mile Run
, a part of the Greenfield
neighborhood and adjacent to a large steel mill
of the Jones and Laughlin Steel Company
. Rusyn immigrants themselves dubbed the small settlement "Ruska Dolina", which translates as Rusyn Valley.
The church first met there in a hall on Saline Street. Rev. Alexij Petrasovich assumed his duties in August 1910, and the same year the church purchased five lots on Saline Street. The Greek Catholic Union of the USA
helped to finance construction of the first church. By 1931 a larger building was needed to accommodated growth. The congregation moved down the street to Saline and Anthony Streets, where the new and present church was completed in 1932. The original church served as a social hall until the 1960s.
The Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh's radio ministry began at St. John Chrysostom Church with broadcasts of Sunday Divine Liturgies
in 1956. The Rev. John Bilock was the celebrant.
During the years 1994–1997 a church renovation project added new lighting and new icons by New Guild Studio throughout the church.
. Some art historians speculate about the influence of the church's numerous and repeating icon
s on Andy Warhol's famous Pop Art
style.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is located in the neighborhood of Four Mile Run
Four Mile Run (Pittsburgh)
Four Mile Run is a small neighborhood in the Greenfield section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States."The Run" was named for a stream—about four miles above The Point—that empties there into the Monongahela River. The neighborhood is distinctive because of its severe geographic isolation from...
, which is an isolated section of Greenfield
Greenfield (Pittsburgh)
Greenfield is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is represented on by Doug Shields.Greenfield is a member of Pittsburgh's 15th Ward, which includes the neighborhoods of Greenfield and Four Mile Run. Greenfield is adjacent to the Pittsburgh neighborhoods of Hazelwood to...
at the bottom of Junction Hollow
Junction Hollow
Junction Hollow is a small wooded valley bordering the west flanks of Schenley Park and the campus of Carnegie Mellon University and the southern edge of the University of Pittsburgh's campus in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania....
. Its address is 506 Saline Street.
Today it is best known for having been the family church of the artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
. Because it faces the heavily traveled Interstate 376
Interstate 376
Interstate 376 is a major auxiliary route of the Interstate Highway System in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, located entirely within the Allegheny Plateau. It runs from I-80 near Sharon south and east to a junction with the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Monroeville, after having crossed the Turnpike...
, or Parkway East, it is an architectural landmark for many commuters who look upon its onion dome
Onion dome
An onion dome is a dome whose shape resembles the onion, after which they are named. Such domes are often larger in diameter than the drum upon which they are set, and their height usually exceeds their width...
s and Slavic-style crosses
Patriarchal cross
The Patriarchal cross is a variant of the Christian cross, the religious symbol of Christianity. Similar to the familiar Latin cross, the Patriarchal cross possesses a smaller crossbar placed above the main one, so that both crossbars are near the top. Sometimes the patriarchal cross has a short,...
.
History
A parish of the Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church of PittsburghByzantine 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 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...
, St. John Chrysostom Church was established in 1910 by 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 from the Carpathian Mountains
Carpathian Mountains
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc roughly long across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the second-longest mountain range in Europe...
. Most came to work in Pittsburgh's steel industry. Large numbers of Rusyns settled in a small valley called Four Mile Run
Four Mile Run (Pittsburgh)
Four Mile Run is a small neighborhood in the Greenfield section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States."The Run" was named for a stream—about four miles above The Point—that empties there into the Monongahela River. The neighborhood is distinctive because of its severe geographic isolation from...
, a part of the Greenfield
Greenfield (Pittsburgh)
Greenfield is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is represented on by Doug Shields.Greenfield is a member of Pittsburgh's 15th Ward, which includes the neighborhoods of Greenfield and Four Mile Run. Greenfield is adjacent to the Pittsburgh neighborhoods of Hazelwood to...
neighborhood and adjacent to a large steel mill
Steel mill
A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel.Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon. It is produced in a two-stage process. First, iron ore is reduced or smelted with coke and limestone in a blast furnace, producing molten iron which is either cast into pig iron or...
of the Jones and Laughlin Steel Company
Jones and Laughlin Steel Company
The earliest foundations of Jones and Laughlin Steel Company were the American Iron Company, founded in 1851 by Bernard Lauth, and B. F. Jones founded in 1852a few miles south of Pittsburgh along the Monongahela River. Lauth's interest was bought in 1854 by James H. Laughlin...
. Rusyn immigrants themselves dubbed the small settlement "Ruska Dolina", which translates as Rusyn Valley.
The church first met there in a hall on Saline Street. Rev. Alexij Petrasovich assumed his duties in August 1910, and the same year the church purchased five lots on Saline Street. 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....
helped to finance construction of the first church. By 1931 a larger building was needed to accommodated growth. The congregation moved down the street to Saline and Anthony Streets, where the new and present church was completed in 1932. The original church served as a social hall until the 1960s.
The Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh's radio ministry began at St. John Chrysostom Church with broadcasts of Sunday Divine Liturgies
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...
in 1956. The Rev. John Bilock was the celebrant.
During the years 1994–1997 a church renovation project added new lighting and new icons by New Guild Studio throughout the church.
Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol was baptized here and the Warhola family worshiped at the church during the artist's formative years (1928–1949) in Pittsburgh. They walked to services each week from their home on Dawson Street in OaklandOakland (Pittsburgh)
Oakland is the academic, cultural, and healthcare center of Pittsburgh and is Pennsylvania's third largest "Downtown". Only Center City Philadelphia and Downtown Pittsburgh can claim more economic and social activity than Oakland...
. Some art historians speculate about the influence of the church's numerous and repeating icon
Icon
An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...
s on Andy Warhol's famous Pop Art
Pop art
Pop art is an art movement that emerged in the mid 1950s in Britain and in the late 1950s in the United States. Pop art challenged tradition by asserting that an artist's use of the mass-produced visual commodities of popular culture is contiguous with the perspective of fine art...
style.