From Father George's Desk 6/28/26

A call from the Bishop’s Office at this time of year is always a mixed blessing...

¨ I think most everyone is aware by now of Deacon Mike’s reassignment by Bishop Kulick. Deacon Mike has been assigned to Holy Family since his ordination in 2015 and has been serving at St. John since my arrival in Latrobe in the Summer of 2023.  I have enjoyed working with him over these past three years and I will miss his insights, pastoral awareness, and wit. St. Sylvester’s gain is our loss.  We will have the opportunity to wish Deacon Mike well on the weekend of July 18-19.  Keep watching for more details.

¨ While I was disappointed to learn of Deacon Mike’s reassignment, I was much happier to learn that as Deacon Mike moves on, we will be welcoming Deacon Mark Ferlin to our       partner parishes, effective July 7.  He is concluding his assignment at Ss. Simon & Jude Parish in Blairsville and Church of the Good Shepherd in Kent (my first pastorate back in the ‘00s).  You will get a chance to meet and get to know him over the coming weeks.

A much more unpleasant surprise came crashing through the ceiling in the Divine Artwork Center at Holy Family on the morning of June 17.  There was a water main break on Chestnut Street near the rectory that disrupted    water service for the rectory and the Divine Artwork Center.  A crew from the Latrobe Municipal Authority was on scene quickly to make repairs and restore service.  However, when the line was repressurized, it caused a failure in a drainpipe on the second floor of the Divine Artwork Center, flooding part of the first floor.  The cleanup and drying out of the affected areas is ongoing and repairs will then have to be scheduled.  The Adoration Chapel is unaffected but some meeting rooms are not going to be useable until repairs are completed. Alternative arrangements are being made for any groups or meetings affected.

As I mentioned in my column two weeks ago, we need to work on this summer in both parishes’ Parish Pastoral Councils.  Bishop Kulick as directed that each parish in the diocese is to have a pastoral council, the mission of which is “...to serve as the forum in which pastors and the lay faithful gather on a regular basis to discern those pastoral and spiritual issues affecting peoples’ understanding and ability to live out their baptismal call in their   daily lives, and to recommend effective responses to these issues.” 

The Pastoral Council should consist of a minimum of six lay members but ideally 8-12.  Membership should be sensitive to the diverse makeup of the parish community including age, sex, socio-economic conditions, race, etc.  Members must be fully initiated Catholics, registered members of the parish, in full communion and in good standing with the Catholic Church and:

·  Demonstrate a willingness to work for the mission of the Church and the Diocese.

·  Be conversant with the lives and issues of people and groups living in the region served by the parish.

·  Have a willingness to focus on the mission of the parish as a whole, and not a specific interest representation.

·  Have the disposition to learn and ability to engage in prayer and spiritual methods utilized in the parish council.

·  Have a basic understanding of parish and diocesan structure.

St. John does have an active pastoral council of five members that typically meets on the second Tuesday of the month.  Holy Family does not have a functioning pastoral council.  So I would ask parishioners of both parishes to take to prayer our parishes’ needs for this important ministry.  If you feel you may be called to this ministry or if you would just like more information about what is involved, please contact me.

With joy and thanksgiving to God, the Diocese of Greensburg announces that Bishop Larry J. Kulick, JCL, has called Mr. Mario Porreca to be admitted to Candidacy for Holy Orders. Bishop Kulick will confer the Rite of Admission to Candidacy within Mass at 11:00 AM on Sunday, July 26 at St. Anne Church, Rostraver.  As some Holy Family parishioners may remember, Mario did a summer assignment here several years ago.  Please keep him in your prayers as he continues his formation.