Pope Francis has appointed Father Edward Malesic, 54, as bishop of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, and accepted the resignation of Bishop Lawrence Brandt, 76, from pastoral governance of that diocese. Father Malesic is a priest of the Diocese of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and judicial vicar of that diocese.
Edward Malesic was born August 14, 1960. He received a bachelor’s degree (1983) and a master’s in divinity (1987) from the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio. He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Harrisburg on May 30, 1987.
Bishop-elect Malesic holds a licentiate in Canon Law from The Catholic University of America. He served as an auditor in the ecclesiastical tribunal (1996-1998) and as defender of the bond and canonical consulter for the tribunal (1998-2000). He has served as judicial vicar and secretary of canonical services since 2006.
Lawrence E. Brandt was born March 27, 1939 in Charleston, West Virginia, and ordained a priest of Erie, Pennsylvania, on December 19, 1969. Pope John Paul II appointed him bishop of Greensburg on January 2, 2004. He was ordained a bishop March 4 of that year.
The Diocese of Greensburg comprises 3,334 square miles in the State of Pennsylvania. It has a total population of 665,682 people, of whom 144,169, or 22%, are Catholic.
