Bishop Lawrence Persico of Erie was a student at St. Joseph Preparatory School in Unity Township when the late Monsignor Giuseppe De Andrea taught there and was headmaster.
After serving various ministries in the Diocese of Greensburg (1958-1981), including being pastor at St. James Church in Salem Township, Monsignor De Andrea returned to his native Italy. He was installed as a bishop there, then Titular Archbishop of Anzio, and was appointed by Pope Paul II to serve as apostolic nuncio to Kuwait, Yemen and Bahrain.
Bishop Persico, as a monsignor and vicar general of the Diocese of Greensburg, was pastor of St. James Parish from 1997 to 2012 when he was appointed Bishop of the Diocese of Erie.
Larry James Kulick (Bishop-Elect), to be installed in early 2021.
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Catholics in the Greensburg Diocese are celebrating an early Christmas gift from Rome: the appointment of one of their own, Msgr. Larry J. Kulick, as bishop-elect.
Pope Francis announced the appointment of Kulick, a Leechburg native, as the sixth bishop of the diocese early Friday.
The appointment of the 54-year-old priest, who has spent his entire career in the diocese, marks the first time parishioners in the Greensburg Diocese have had cause to celebrate the elevation of a local priest to the bishop’s office.