PITTSBURGH — Basil Myron Schott, the Byzantine archbishop of Pittsburgh and head of Byzantine Catholics in America, has died.

Schott was 70 when he died Thursday at UPMC Passavant hospital after a seven-month battle with cancer.

Byzantine Catholics in America are loyal to the pope but have liturgical practices similar to Orthodox Christians.

As head of the Archeparchy of Pittsburgh, Schott also served as Metropolitan — or head — of the church in the United States.

Schott's jurisdiction included dozens of parishes in Pennsylvania and Ohio and a total of eight others in West Virginia, Tennessee, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas.

His funeral will be Wednesday at St. John the Baptist Cathedral in Mulhall.