Upper St. Clair Priest Named Pittsburgh Diocese Auxiliary Bishop

PITTSBURGH - Pope Francis has named the Rev. Mark Eckman as auxiliary bishop of Pittsburgh and will be ordained in January at St. Paul Cathedral in Oakland. The appointment was announced Friday in Washington, D.C. by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United
States.

Eckman has been a Diocese of Pittsburgh priest for more than 36 years and serves as serves as pastor of Resurrection Parish in Bethel Park-Upper Saint Clair.

“The Holy Father’s appointment is a gift to our diocese and brings great joy to me," Bishop David Zubik said in a news release. "Bishop-elect Eckman is a born and raised Pittsburgher who has a deep devotion to Jesus and the people of this region. “He has shown himself to be a caring, compassionate, responsible, skilled pastor of the Church."

An auxiliary bishop is assigned to assist the diocesan bishop with the pastoral and administrative needs of a diocese.

“I am honored that the Holy Father has placed such trust and confidence in me and I will serve wherever needed,” Bishop-elect Eckman said. “I have chosen as my episcopal motto: ‘To serve in faith and charity.’"

Eckman, 62, was ordained to the priesthood in 1985.

He was born in Pittsburgh and attended Saint Valentine elementary school and the former South Hills Catholic High School (now Seton-LaSalle High School). He was a seminarian at Saint Paul Seminary in Pittsburgh, is a graduate of Duquesne University and received a Master of Divnity degree from Saint Vincent Seminary in Latrobe.

The Diocese of Pittsburgh is composed of 628,000 Catholics in Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Greene, Lawrence and Washington counties.

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