John Bilock

{{short description|American Roman Catholic priest}} {{Infobox Christian leader | type = Bishop | honorific-prefix = Most Reverend | name = John Michael Bilock | title = Auxiliary Bishop of Pittsburgh | image = | alt = | caption = | church = Ruthenian Catholic Church | archdiocese = | diocese = Titular See of ''Pergamum'' | see = | appointed = March 1, 1973 | term = May 15, 1973 – September 8, 1994 | predecessor = | successor =  | ordination = February 3, 1946 | ordained_by = | consecration = May 15, 1973 | consecrated_by = Stephen Kocisko | rank =  | birth_date = June 20, 1916 | birth_place = McAdoo, Pennsylvania | death_date = {{death date and age|1994|9|8|1916|6|20}} | death_place = Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | previous_post = | religion = | motto = }} '''John Michael Bilock''' (June 20, 1916 – September 8, 1994) was a bishop of the Catholic Church in the United States. He served as the Auxiliary Bishop of Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh from 1973 to 1994.

==Early life and education== Born in McAdoo, Pennsylvania, John Michael Bilock was educated at St. Procopius College and Seminary in Lisle, Illinois.<ref name=cathedral>{{cite web|url=http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bbilock.html|title=Bishop John Michael Bilock|publisher=St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Cathedral|accessdate=2014-02-25|last=|first=}}</ref> He was ordained a priest on February 3, 1946.<ref name=catholic>{{cite web|url=http://www.gcatholic.org/hierarchy/data/bishops-5.htm |title=Bishops who are not Ordinaries of Sees |publisher=Giga Catholic |accessdate=2014-02-25 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204012103/http://www.gcatholic.org/hierarchy/data/bishops-5.htm |archivedate=2013-12-04 }}</ref>

==Priesthood== Bilock's pastoral assignments as a priest included St. John the Baptist in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, and St. John Chrysostom in Pittsburgh. In 1955 he became the personal secretary of Bishop Nicholas Elko as well as the secretary to the Board of Consultors. A year later he became a consultor, and on May 7, 1957, he was named a Papal Chamberlain, with the title of Monsignor, by Pope Pius XII. In 1963 Bilock was appointed the rector of St. John the Baptist Cathedral in Munhall, Pennsylvania. Six years later he was named vicar general of the archeparchy, and he was made a Prelate of Honor by Pope Paul VI.

==Episcopacy== Pope Paul VI named Bilock as the Titular Bishop of ''Pergamum'' and Auxiliary Bishop of Pittsburgh (Ruthenian) on March 1, 1973. He was consecrated a bishop by Archbishop Stephen Kocisko on May 15, 1973, at Holy Spirit Church in Pittsburgh. The principal co-consecrators were Bishops Michael Dudick of Passaic and Emil Mihalik of Parma.<ref name=catholic-hierarchy>{{cite web|url=http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bbilock.html|title=Bishop John Michael Bilock|publisher=Catholic-Hierarchy|accessdate=2014-02-25|last=|first=}}</ref> Throughout his ministry as priest and bishop, Bilock celebrated the Divine Liturgy weekly over radio station WEDO.<ref name=post>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19940910&id=ZMhaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=B3ADAAAAIBAJ&pg=5447,4452706|title=Bishop John Bilock Byzantine Catholic archdiocesan leader|publisher=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|accessdate=2014-02-25|last=|first=}}</ref> After the death of Archbishop Thomas Dolinay he was elected by the Board of Consultors as the Apostolic Administrator of the archeparchy in 1993. Bilock died of a heart attack on September 8, 1994, at St. Francis Medical Center in Pittsburgh at the age of 78.<ref name="catholic-hierarchy"/><ref name=post/> His funeral was celebrated at St. John the Baptist Cathedral and he was buried at the Mount St. Macrina Motherhouse in Uniontown, Pennsylvania

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bilock, John}} Category:1916 births Category:1994 deaths Category:People from Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania Category:Religious leaders from Pittsburgh Category:Bishops of the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church Category:20th-century Eastern Catholic bishops Category:American Eastern Catholic bishops Category:20th-century American clergy