Rev Radko Blichar (right) New Byzantine catholic priest and Father Deacon Paul Simko Jr talk at St. John's Byzantine Catholic Church, Lyndora lights candles at the church on Tuesday April 3, 2018.

The Rev. Radko Blichar celebrated his first Easter as pastor of St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Church, 105 Koehler Ave.

And even though Radko has a wife and children and the Byzantine cross has three bars on it, St. John's congregation marked Easter on April 1 just like other Catholics worldwide.

That's because St. John is a Catholic church, said its deacon, Paul Simko of Meridian.

“We are in communion with the Pope of Rome. We are Eastern Catholic, one of the 23 Eastern Catholic churches,” he said, “the best I can figure this is the first married priest we've had here since 1928,” said Simko.

Blichar said because of a scarcity of priests in the United States, the head of the Byzantine Catholic Church, Metropolitan Archbishop William C. Skurla, reached a deal with his counterpart in Slovakia which had more priests than churches in the eastern part of the country. Twelve priests were dispatched to serve churches in the United States.

So, Blichar, 37; his wife of five years Katarina; and his sons, Benjamin, 3 and David Aaron, 1; arrived in the United States last year.

“We are like soldiers. They tell us where to go,” said Blichar.

Read the full story more about Rev. Radko Blichar and his plans in Thursday's Butler Eagle.