The Seton Hill University Certificate in Pastoral Ministry Program will welcome Msgr. Larry J. Kulick, moderator of the curia of the Diocese of Greensburg, as a guest lecturer on Saturday, June 27, 2015 from 8:15 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. in Room 402 of the Administration Building on Seton Hill’s hilltop campus.

Msgr. Kulick will speak to students in the pastoral ministry course “Liturgy and Sacrament,” taught by Daniel J. Martino Ph.D., director of the Certificate in Pastoral Ministry Program and associate professor of religious studies/theology at Seton Hill.

Msgr. Kulick, who serves as pastor of St. James Parish in New Alexandria, Pa. and is a canon lawyer, will give students in the program a meaningful perspective on the rites of Catholic burial and cremation as it relates to the theology of the body.

“Msgr. Kulick’s lecture will serve to educate students in the Seton Hill pastoral ministry program on Catholic teaching regarding burial and cremation to help them avoid misinterpretation as they go out and minister in parishes throughout the diocese,” said Martino.

Msgr. Kulick, a native of Leechburg, Pa., received a licentiate degree in canon law from The Catholic University of America, a bachelor’s degree from Saint Vincent College, Latrobe; and master of divinity and master of arts degrees from Saint Vincent Seminary. He was ordained a priest May 16, 1992, by Bishop Anthony G. Bosco at Blessed Sacrament Cathedral.

He has served as pastor at Church of the Good Shepherd Parish in Kent and St. Joseph Parish in New Kensington as well as parochial vicar of Blessed Sacrament Cathedral Parish, Greensburg and Immaculate Conception Parish, Irwin. He has also served in a variety of roles in clergy vocations, including co-director of the Office for Clergy Vocations and co-director of the Office for the Permanent Diaconate.

The Certificate in Pastoral Ministry Program at Seton Hill is a joint venture between the University and the Diocese of Greensburg.

“Students in the program are adult learners who are very much interested in learning as much as they can about theology and the Church,” Martino said. “The Pastoral Ministry Program allows Seton Hill to help the Diocese educate more lay people so that they can undertake fitting leadership roles and so better collaborate with ordained ministers. The program gives people the opportunity to assume different roles within parish ministry, but we also have people that work in hospice, retreat centers, and campus ministry.”

While Seton Hill provides the academic framework, as a nationally unique partnership between the University and the Diocese, the leadership role played by Marsha Kable, Director of the Office of Lay Ecclesial Ministry, is instrumental. In overseeing the administration of the program for the Diocese her responsibilities include coordinating the spiritual formation and field placement requirements of the program as well as organizing the efforts necessary to recruit and retain students.

Martino said many students find the Certificate a pathway to achieve higher levels of education in theology. In fact, the Certificate in Pastoral Ministry at Seton Hill is the first step for those seeking ordination to the Permanent Diaconate in the Diocese of Greensburg.

About the Certificate in Pastoral Ministry Program

The Certificate in Pastoral Ministry Program is a joint venture of Seton Hill University and the Diocese of Greensburg. The certificate program serves the educational and formational needs of adults who are committed to the mission of Christ within the Roman Catholic Church and whose service is under the leadership of the diocesan Bishop as successor of the Apostles and in communion with the Holy Father, the Bishop of Rome. Some of these persons serve as lay ecclesial ministers and others as ordained permanent deacons. With a clear focus on the integration of the human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral dimensions of ministry formation, students are prepared to cooperate with their pastors in undertaking leadership responsibilities for a wide variety of ministries with theological competence, pastoral sensitivity and spiritual depth. Students in the certificate program may also choose to use the credits earned within the program toward a B.A. in religious studies/theology at Seton Hill.