Greensburg Bishop Larry J. Kulick began a two-day pilgrimage to the four St. Joseph parishes in his diocese with a prayer service Monday in New Kensington.

Kulick is dedicating the Greensburg Catholic diocese to the protection and guardianship of St. Joseph for the next three years.

On Tuesday, St. Joseph’s feast day, the bishop is scheduled to visit St. Joseph parishes in Derry, Everson and Uniontown. He will release a pastoral letter outlining his three-year vision for the diocese around midday at Blessed Sacrament Cathedral in Greensburg.

The letter will be available on the diocese’s website, dioceseofgreensburg.org/stjoseph.

Kulick, a Leechburg native, attended evening prayer Monday at St. Joseph parish in New Kensington, where he was pastor from July 2002 to January 2008. Those attending were afforded the opportunity to receive a copy of his letter, a 30-page pamphlet titled “Donum Veritatis: The Gift of Truth.”

In New Kensington, the bishop was known as “Father Larry,” music director Diane Painter said.

“We’re excited to have him back,” Painter said. “We’re happy to be the first to celebrate.”

When Kulick left the church, the congregation was heartbroken, said Shirley Makuta of Arnold, one of three St. Joseph representatives on the New Kensington Catholic Community’s pastoral council.

She thinks the bishop has a soft spot for the New Kensington parish.

“Any time we have the bishop come, it is a significant event. We’re all very grateful he was made bishop,” she said. “He has a way of bringing people together.”

Each stop of the pilgrimage will focus on a different aspect of St. Joseph, said Clifford Gorski, a spokesman for the diocese. In Derry, the presentation will be on him as patron of a happy death; in Everson, patron of immigrants; and, in Uniontown, as protector of the Eucharist.

Donations of nonperishable food and supplies will be collected in Everson and distributed to food banks in Westmoreland and Fayette counties, Kulick said.

In New Kensington, the service focused on St. Joseph as a worker, which Makuta said was his most significant title.

Speaking to that was author and songwriter Mike Aquilina, co-founder of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology.

“He is the only saint to bear that title,” Aquilina said. “It’s very generic, suggestive of an infinity of trades, all the varieties of work that men and women can do. And it’s unique. Joseph is the only one who bears it.”

Joseph was a skilled laborer known for his work, not his words, Aquilina said. He was called the carpenter, as if it were his name.

“We remember many other saints for what they said,” Aquilina said. “St. Joseph we remember for shutting up and getting things done. We remember him for his work. In all of human history, he’s the one best known as the worker. And with his work, he played a key role in human history.”

Lorraine Menk is a member of St. Mary’s in Lower Burrell and a cantor at St. Joseph in New Kensington. She said she came to support her sister church.

“I want to learn about St. Joseph. I love to hear the back stories of people we revere and I think we’re all going to learn something tonight,” she said before the service began. “It’s always good when people gather from all around.”

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