OBITUARY
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ:
It is with the deepest sorrow that we announce the passing of our second Patriarch,
His Holiness +Mar Markus I,
who ascended to the Lord Saturday March 16th at 4:30 PM Pacific Time.
| The Most Reverend Mark I. Miller, DD was the spiritual leader of the Byzantine Catholic Church headquartered in Canoga Park, California. When elevated to patriarch of this small worldwide communion of some thirty thousand, Rev. Miller, the former Metropolitan Archbishop of Los Angeles, took the patriarchal name: +Mar Markus I.
The church is largely comprised of ethnic peoples from Latino and African countries and has Metropolitan Archbishops presiding in each country under the authority of the patriarch. In the United States the church is almost entirely Latino in composition with some African American members, and a few Caucasians.
The earthly remains of His Holiness are interred in Chapel Terrace Mausoleum, space A-48 East Wing, at Glen Haven Memorial Park, Sylmar, California, on the north side hills of the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles. The mausoleum is pictured below. The patriarch is at rest in a crypt space that is at ground level, five crypt spaces down the sidewalk from the concrete bench, behind the tree.
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 Requiescat Et Pax Faithfully Yours In Christ, + His Holiness Mar Laurentius Third Patriarch of the Byzantine Catholic Church  |
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OBITUARY
His Holiness + Mar Christopher Maria was the first patriarch of the church, retiring due to health reasons in 1967. He died the following year of cancer of the liver.
His Holiness founded the church in Louisville, Kentucky and over the years expanded the church into Utah, and Nevada, and then to California. In Los Angeles he was joined by Metropolitan Archbishop Miller, who was to succeed him as the second patriarch of the church.
