Greensburg diocese's Bishop Kulick headed to Rome to meet Pope Francis

Bishop Larry J. Kulick has traveled to Rome before, but an upcoming trip holds extra meaning for the relatively new bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Greensburg.

Kulick, a Leechburg native and St. Joseph High School graduate, will once again make the journey today alongside other newly installed bishops. They will attend a Mass celebrated by Pope Francis, who appointed Kulick to his position in February 2021. The Mass will be followed by a meeting with the pope at the Vatican.

“As he was the one who named me as the bishop, it’s just a wonderful opportunity,” Kulick said. “… I will hopefully have the opportunity to express to him our prayers and our love for him, our unity with him and our fraternity with him, our desire to assist him in the work of the church; and then also to assure him that we will, indeed, be agents of helping him to embrace his vision and help the work of the church.”

The trip also will feature a seminar at the Catholic educational institute for new bishops.

The event, which normally is held each year, was canceled the past two years because of the covid-19 pandemic. Several sessions are being spread out throughout the month featuring bishops who were ordained between 2019 and 2022.

The upcoming session, made up of 170 new bishops, including Kulick, will focus on shepherding in a post-pandemic world.

New-bishop school, also known as “baby bishop school,” also will feature presentations on evangelization, communication, canon law and diocesan administration.

It will be held at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum, a Catholic educational institute directed by the Legionaries of Christ, roughly 4 miles from the Vatican.

“This is for bishops from all around the world, new bishops,” Kulick said. “So it’s going to be interesting, I think first of all to make that connectivity, not just with some of the new bishops of the United States or even in The Americas, but it will be looking and being with bishops from across the world. That really gives you sort of an opportunity for fraternity and connectivity.”

In addition to meeting with bishops from around the world, Kulick will learn about how the Roman Catholic Church operates and how it works to support the dioceses.

“I think it’s to familiarize us with that, and also to have an opportunity for the Holy Father as bishops to impress upon us his desire of what he wants and would like to see the bishops be and do. And how they need to respond to the needs of the people,” Kulick said.

Kulick previously visited Rome while working as a priest for 30 years. He had the opportunity to meet St. Pope John Paul II, who served as pope from 1978 until his death in 2005.

Kulick will return to Greensburg on Sept. 19. He will post photos throughout his trip on his Facebook page.