St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Cemetery
Encyclopedia
Cemetery
A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...
in Bethel Park
Bethel Park, Pennsylvania
Bethel Park is a home rule municipality in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and is part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area, approximately 7 miles southwest of Pittsburgh...
, 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...
, a suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
approximately 5 miles (8 km) south of downtown Pittsburgh. It is situated on a hillside in the southwest corner of the intersection of Connor Road and Pennsylvania State Route 88.
As an ethnic parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
cemetery, it primarily serves members of St. John the Baptist Byzantine 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...
on Pittsburgh's South Side, as well as others of ukrainian descent from 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 cemetery was established in 1923 when the church bought a 20 acres (80,937.2 m²) farm in a rural part of Allegheny County
Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Allegheny County is a county in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,223,348; making it the second most populous county in Pennsylvania, following Philadelphia County. The county seat is Pittsburgh...
. Since then, suburban growth has spread to meet the graveyard. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania took part of the cemetery grounds to expand Connor Road, and the Port Authority of Allegheny County
Port Authority of Allegheny County
Port Authority of Allegheny County is the second-largest public transit agency in Pennsylvania and the 11th-largest in the United States. When considering that its service area is the 20th largest in the U.S...
annexed more of its land for a trolley station.
Notable interments
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
artist 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...
and his parents.
For years now some Andy Warhol fans make pilgrimage
Pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...
to this cemetery and leave a token soup can on his grave stone (see tombstone image).
External links
- Location in Google Maps
- Poem "Andy Warhol for Pilgrims" http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07048/762756-109.stm
- New York Times feature on Andy Warhol cemetery rituals http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/23/us/23warhol.html?ex=1329886800&en=fc42c14c39a07cc6&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss