YOUNGSTOWN — Bishop George Murry of the Diocese of Youngstown has made clergy appointments effective March 1.

Murry’s appointments are:

• The Rev. Scott Kopp was appointed director of vocations for the Diocese of Youngstown. Kopp, a native of Dover, was ordained June 17, 2017, after receiving a master of divinity at Mount St. Mary Seminary in Cincinnati.

He has served as parochial vicar at St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Canton until his appointment as pastor of Holy Trinity Parish in East Liverpool in August 2018.

Kopp will remain pastor there as he assumes his responsibilities as director of vocations.

• The Rev. Joseph Ruggieri was appointed director of seminarians for the Diocese of Youngstown.

Ruggieri, a native of Austintown, was ordained May 20, 1995, after receiving a master of divinity at Mount St. Mary Seminary in Cincinnati. He served as parochial vicar at St. Patrick in Kent from 1995 to 2000, then as parochial vicar at St. Joan of Arc in Canton from 2000 to 2003.

Ruggieri was appointed pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Ashtabula in August 2003, assuming the pastorate of Mother of Sorrows in Ashtabula as well in 2008. In 2011, he was named pastor of Christ the Good Shepherd in Campbell, where he served until being appointed pastor of Regina Coeli in Alliance and St. Joseph in Maximo in March of 2013.

Ruggieri has served on the Priests’ Personnel Board, the Diocesan Cemetery Board, the Presbyteral Council and has been a chaplain for the Kent State University Police Department.

Ruggieri will continue to serve as pastor of Regina Coeli and St. Joseph as he assumes his responsibilities as director of seminarians.

• After 11 years of service as vocations director and director of seminarians, the Rev. Christopher Luoni will relinquish those responsibilities and remain pastor of St. Joan of Arc in Streetsboro. Building on the foundation set by the Rev. Leo Wehrlin, his predecessor, Luoni increased the number of seminarians in formation from an average of eight per year to an average of 20 per year.

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