Our Clergy

Bishop Kurt Burnette

Bishop Kurt grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas and then Houston, Texas where he attended Rice University, and where his parents helped found St. John Chrysostom Byzantine Catholic Church.

In 1985, Bishop Thomas Dolinay called him to be a priest for the Eparchy of Van Nuys, and he attended SS Cyril and Methodius Seminary in Pittsburgh. After ordination on April 26, 1989, he was assigned as administrator or pastor of St. Nicholas Church in Fontana, California, St. Irene Church in Portland Oregon, St. Gabriel Church in Las Vegas, and Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In 2004, his bishop sent him to study canon law in Rome. In October 2012, he was appointed Rector of SS Cyril and Methodius Seminary in Pittsburgh. On December 4, 2013, Bishop Kurt was consecrated a bishop of the Catholic Church in St. Michael Cathedral in Passaic, New Jersey and enthroned as the fifth bishop of the Eparchy of Passaic.

Very Reverend Father Vasyl Symyon

Father Vasyl Symyon was born in Mukachevo, Ukraine, in the Transcarpathia region. After graduating from high school in 2003, he entered the Theological Academy of Blessed Bishop-Martyr Theodore Romzha in Uzhhorod, Ukraine. He later continued his studies in Rome at the Pontifical Academy Alfonsiana, where he earned a licentiate degree in Moral Theology and Bioethics magna cum laude in 2012.

Father Vasyl was ordained to the diaconate on November 26, 2013, in Rome, and to the priesthood on January 7, 2014, at the Exaltation of the Holy Cross Cathedral in Uzhhorod, Ukraine, by Bishop Milan Šašik, C.M. Since then, he has served in both academic and pastoral roles, including teaching Eastern Moral Theology through the Byzantine Catholic Seminary of Pittsburgh and serving parishes in West Virginia and Pennsylvania.

In 2023, Father Vasyl began doctoral studies at The Catholic University of America, where he is researching the theology of martyrdom in St. Augustine and the life of Bishop-Martyr Alexander Chira. On August 28, 2023, he was appointed administrator of St. Gregory Byzantine Catholic Church in Beltsville, Maryland, and Patronage of the Mother of God Byzantine Catholic Church in Arbutus, Maryland. He speaks Ukrainian, Russian, English, and Italian, and can read and translate Latin and Greek.

Father Deacon Tony Kotlar

Deacon Anthony Joseph Kotlar was ordained to the diaconate on October 19, 2003, by Bishop Andrew Pataki at Patronage of the Mother of God Byzantine Catholic Church in Baltimore, where he was also assigned to serve. He previously received tonsure as a candlebearer and lector in 2001 and later served as a professor of Scripture, Dogma, and Patristics for the Eparchy of Passaic Diaconal Formation Program.

Before his diaconal ministry, Deacon Anthony had a distinguished academic and professional career in science. He earned degrees in chemistry and theology, including a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from MIT and an M.A. in Theology from St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore. He served in the U.S. Army and worked for many years as a research physicist at Aberdeen Proving Ground. Deacon Anthony and his wife, Theresa, were married in 1972 and have seven children and eight grandchildren.