Celebrating 75 Years of a Legacy of Faith

GREENSBURG – Bishop Larry J. Kulick brought to a close the Jubilee Year of Hope in the Diocese of Greensburg with a solemn closing Mass at Blessed Sacrament Cathedral Dec. 28, the Feast of the Holy Family.  Clergy, consecrated religious and the faithful from around the Diocese gathered to give thanks to God for the year of grace and for the opportunity to draw closer to the Lord in strengthening discipleship. 

Bishop Kulick reflected on the Jubilee Year of Hope, beginning with the late Pope Francis, who died on Easter Monday last year.

“As the Lord called him to Himself in the midst of that great season of resurrection and hope, our Holy Father himself witnessed and gave us an example of where our eyes, our hearts, our minds, our energy, our actions and all that we are and hope to be,”  Bishop Kulick said, adding that we are offered the gift of eternity through Christ, which is our eternal hope.

Bishop Kulick noted that the second half of the Jubilee Year of Hope was led by Pope Leo XIV, who remained committed to the Jubilee schedule set by Pope Francis. Pope Leo closed the Holy Door at Saint Peter’s Basilica on the Feat of the Epiphany, officially ending the Jubilee Year in the Universal Church. 

“This Jubilee era of hope, while it formally, historically comes to a conclusion, it is but a moment in time that has offered us, very importantly, yet another affirmation of who we are, what we are about and what God is calling us to,” Bishop Kulick said.  “He has called us into the family of the Church.”

During his homily, Bishop Kulick looked forward to 2026, when the Diocese of Greensburg will celebrate its 75th Diamond Jubilee Year.  He will celebrate an opening Mass March 10 at 6:30 p.m. at Blessed Sacrament Cathedral, Greensburg, marking the anniversary of the founding of the Diocese.  A number of additional opportunities, spiritual and social, will be held throughout the year to commemorate this historic anniversary. The year will end with a closing Mass celebrated by Bishop Kulick Dec. 12 at Christ Our Shepherd Center, Greensburg, during the annual Christmas Night Market.

In ending the Jubilee year and moving forward to the 75th diamond anniversary celebrations, Bishop Kulick urged the faithful to move forward with hearts filled with charity, love and mercy and to go forth as pilgrims of hope.