Bishop Kulick reflects on 10th National Eucharistic Congress and the young Church

My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Over the summer, I traveled with the faithful from the Diocese of Greensburg to the 10th National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis. We joined 60,000 other Catholics from around the nation to celebrate the source and summit of our faith — Christ’s presence in the Eucharist.

The Eucharistic Congress was dynamic and uplifting. We all left with a feeling of great hope for the future of our Church.

One of the most amazing and hopeful things I witnessed at the Congress was the large number of attendees from our young Church. I was inspired by the number of young women religious, seminarians and men who are clergy. Equally impressive were the young men and women who are in their own discernment process. Those who are discerning their calling are strengthened through the Eucharist.

We, too, have a role to play in the lives of those who are considering a vocation. Our role is through prayer, which is paramount in the process of those who are discerning.

Our collective vocational prayers implore the Lord to recognize and understand this need, especially in our Diocese. We are blessed to have three new priests serving parishes. Twelve permanent deacons assist in our clergy and minister to parishioners in many ways. And, we are blessed to have eight seminarians who are in various stages of their formation for the priesthood.

Bishop Emeritus Lawrence E. Brandt understood the importance of the prayers of the faithful for the intention of vocations. Under his leadership, our Diocese saw the creation of three vocations chapels inside parishes in Fayette, Indiana and Westmoreland counties. Bishop Emeritus Brandt requested that the chapels be located in specific regions of the Diocese, inside a church or chapel, in order to remind people in those sacred spaces to pray for vocations or
for those who are discerning a possible call to Church life. He also wanted photographs of religious or seminarians to be placed in the vocations chapels so that the faithful could put a face to the name of their prayer intentions. I was delighted that Bishop Emeritus Brandt was able to join me as I dedicated our fourth vocations chapel in August in Armstrong County.

We must also recognize that resources and gifts are important for vocations and for the ongoing formation of our clergy. Simply, when you generously support this mission, you are shaping our Diocese now and in the future.

As Bishop, I truly believe that we have been extremely responsive by listening to the pastoral needs of  the faithful, by observing the current state of our culture, and by being proactive in our formation programming designed to keep seminarians and clergy healthy, enthusiastic in their vocation, and emotionally and spiritually strong. Your generosity allows us to prepare seminarians and clergy with solid formation that includes spiritual formation, academic formation and pastoral formation so that they may lead the Church in the future.

The annual cost to educate one seminarian is more than $40,000. That, coupled with the cost of continuing formation for our newly ordained and clergy, our International Priest program, and our permanent diaconate, is a large but a necessary part of our annual Diocesan budget.

That is why I humbly ask for your prayerful consideration of financial support for vocations and clergy. Please use the envelope provided in this edition of The Catholic Accent. I believe that your generosity and the Lord continuing to hear our prayers will allow our Diocese to continue to support those who will or who currently serve as seminarians, deacons and priests.

May God continue to bless you and your loved ones,

The Most Reverend Larry J. Kulick, J.C.L.
Bishop of Greensburg