Rev. Sciarappa helps serve needs of people
The Rev. Anthony Sciarappa, 27, has joined the Butler parishes of St. Paul, St. Peter and St. Michael the Archangel as the parochial vicar. He will assist the parish pastor, the Rev. Harry Bielewicz, tend to the needs of the more than 2,500 families.
Sciarappa and two other men were ordained priests June 25 at St. Paul Cathedral in Pittsburgh. He celebrated his first Mass on June 26 at SS. John and Paul Roman Catholic Church in Wexford.
He arrived in Butler to take up his assignment July 11.
Bielewicz said, “The parochial vicar is one that helps in the parishes. With three parishes, I need assistance, so the bishop sends a parochial vicar to serve the needs of the people.”
It is just Bielewicz and Sciarappa to celebrate the nine weekend Masses a week in the parish’s three churches. They will divide the Masses between them.
In addition, Sciarappa will assist Bielewicz with confessions, visits to hospitals and the Sunnyview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, and premarital couples counseling.
Sciarappa said they gave him a good pastor to work with, “so I think I will be all right.”
“I think the assignment is for two years officially, but I move or stay as the bishop sees fit,” Sciarappa said.
Sciarappa was born in Pittsburgh and grew up in Wexford, the son of Dominic and Gloria Sciarappa.
He said he got his calling to the priesthood during his senior year in high school and then spent four years at St. Paul Seminary in Crafton while also taking classes at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh.
He said he then attended the Catholic University of America and its Theological College in Washington, D.C., for four years.
He’s only visited Butler once before moving into the St. Michael rectory July 11.
“I pretty much stayed in my Wexford bubble. I visited St. Paul’s one time so it’s all so very new to me,” he said.
“People have been very friendly, very welcoming,” he said. “I feel I’m going to like it here. People have pride in their city which I feel is great.”
Sciarappa said he believes his major duty as a priest is to be his parishioners spiritual father. “That encompasses everything we do. That’s what always excited me about the priesthood,” he said.
Bishop David Zubik exhorted the three new priests of the Diocese of Pittsburgh to be confident and courageous in living out their vocations during their ordination Mass.
Calling it a “glorious day” and a “historic and beautiful moment in the history of the Church of Pittsburgh,” the bishop ordained the three in a celebration witnessed by family members, friends and fellow clergy.
