Seton Hill University President Mary C. Finger is pleased to announce the establishment of The Bishop Lawrence E. Brandt, J.C.D., Ph.D. Scholarship Fund, which will be granted to graduates of Catholic high schools within the Diocese of Greensburg. 

“Bishop Emeritus Lawrence E. Brandt’s professional tenure and personal history exhibit a deep commitment to Catholic higher education. He has advanced catechesis, faith formation and evangelization by various initiatives in the Diocese and by his commitment to the Certificate in Pastoral Ministry Program at Seton Hill as well as by creation of the Permanent Diaconate Program in the Diocese, which also uses this certificate program,” said President Finger. She continued, “And, Bishop Emeritus Brandt demonstrated his forward-looking support for the growth of Catholic school enrollment in the Diocese by his establishment of The Bishop’s Tuition Transfer Grants Program. Seton Hill University is delighted to establish this scholarship in Bishop Brandt’s honor to ensure future generations of Diocesan students will be able to achieve a Seton Hill education.” 

Bishop Lawrence E. Brandt said, “A Catholic education is the greatest gift parents can give their children. It educates and forms the whole person: soul, mind, and heart. Its intellectual horizons and faith values are the gift, which keeps on giving to future generations. I am deeply gratified to have my name attached to such a splendid opportunity for young people.” 

The Bishop Brandt Scholarship Fund was established to provide scholarships to graduates of Greensburg Central Catholic Junior-Senior High School and Geibel Catholic Junior-Senior High School. At a minimum, Bishop Brandt Scholars will be provided half-tuition scholarships annually by Seton Hill. 

Brett Freshour, Vice President for Enrollment Management at Seton Hill said, “Bishop Brandt Scholars must be academically meritorious students with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.5 who are practicing Roman Catholics who model the Church’s teachings on faith and morals and are committed to service in the community. In addition, Bishop Brandt Scholars must be active members of a Parish in the Diocese of Greensburg and receive the recommendation of their Parish Pastor.” 

Freshour continued: “One Bishop Brandt Scholar will be selected each academic year beginning in the Fall 2016 semester. A Bishop Brandt Scholar will be able to renew this funding for up to four years provided he or she remains in good academic standing and continues to meet the guidelines of the Scholarship Fund. Each subsequent year, a new scholarship will be awarded. Within four years of establishment of the fund, there will be four Bishop Brandt Scholars annually.” 

Seton Hill will reach out to the principals of the Diocesan high schools for recommendations on candidates for the scholarship. A committee, including the Directors of Financial Aid and Campus Ministry at Seton Hill, and the Vicar General of the Diocese of Greensburg, will select the recipients. 

About Bishop Emeritus Lawrence E. Brandt, fourth Bishop of Greensburg (2004-15)

Bishop Lawrence E. Brandt was installed as the fourth bishop of the Diocese of Greensburg on March 4, 2004, at Blessed Sacrament Cathedral in Greensburg. Bishop Brandt led the diocese for 11 years, during which time he instituted many Diocesan-wide initiatives. 

Early in his tenure, Bishop Brandt promulgated a Prayer for Vocations, and established three vocation prayer Chapels—in Latrobe, Indiana and Uniontown—to help raise awareness for prayer to help increase vocations. He also established a full-time Office for Clergy Vocations, an Office for the Permanent Diaconate, as well as a Diocesan Office for Development, and an Office for Evangelization. 

Bishop Brandt established the Diocesan Lenten Appeal, a giving program, in his first year as bishop. Through this program, the Diocese is able to educate seminarians and care for retired priests, support the work of Catholic Charities, support evangelization and faith formation efforts, and provide lay ministry formation, catechetical training, and parish support services, coordinate youth ministry, and support Catholic schools. Since 2004, the appeal has raised over $48 million. 

In 2005, Bishop Brandt started a strategic planning process with listening sessions in Lent 2006 in every region of the Diocese. These sessions guided change and consolidation plans for the Diocese in 2008 and 2013, and also led to the establishment of the Offices of Evangelization, as well as the Office of Development. 

In 2008, the Capital Campaign, “Today’s Challenge, Tomorrow’s Hope,” was launched. Despite taking place during the “Great Recession” in the United States beginning in 2008, the campaign received overwhelming support, totaling $55 million in pledges and exceeding the original $45 million goal. 

In 2009, Bishop Brandt promulgated his Pastoral Letter called “The Transmission of Faith in the Present Culture,” which included changing the age for receiving confirmation to the eighth grade, and establishing a certificate program for catechists. 

In looking out for the poorer communities of the Diocese, Bishop Brandt established the Diocesan Poverty Relief Fund in 2010. All money contributed to this fund goes directly to the aid of the poor and needy in the Diocese’s four counties. This program has provided more than $258,000 in direct assistance to poor people in the Diocese’s four counties. 

To promote and assist evangelization, Bishop Brandt approved Diocesan sponsorship of We Are One Body radio—WAOB-FM 106.7, WAOB 860 AM and WPGR 1510 AM. The stations began broadcasting Catholic teaching programming in 2010. 

Bishop Brandt’s early call to vocations proved successful. He ordained the Diocese’s first two permanent deacons in 2009 and four more in 2015. In 2010, he invited the first Filipino priests to serve in the Diocese and he ordained eight men to the priesthood during his tenure. 

On March 10, 2011, the 60th anniversary celebration of the establishment of the Diocese, Bishop Brandt instituted the Bishop’s Medal of Honor, recognizing meritorious service to one’s parish and the Diocese. In 2013, he added a higher rank to the honor, The Rank of Golden Merit, for persons who had distinguished themselves by particularly significant good works, which have had an especially effective breadth of outreach. 

Bishop Brandt celebrated his tenth anniversary of Episcopal ordination and installation with the Diocese in 2014. That same year, he established the Bishop’s Tuition Transfer Grants program, which helped the Diocese receive a $100,000 marketing grant to help increase Catholic schools enrollment. He created the Diocesan Heritage Center located at the Bishop Connare Center in Greensburg in May 2014. The Center was established to collect, preserve, and display the religious artistic and cultural patrimony of the Diocese, and to provide additional space for the Diocesan archives. 

During his time with the Diocese, Bishop Brandt continued to show vigilance in the protection of children and young people. He updated and combined the “Minor Protection Policy” and “Policy of the Diocese of Greensburg for Clergy Sexual Misconduct” to create the “Code of Pastoral Conduct” which is a companion to the guidelines of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishop’s “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.” 

Bishop Brandt was born on March 27, 1939, in Charleston, W. Va. His family relocated to Lake City, near Erie, Pennsylvania when he was young. He attended St. John the Evangelist School in Girard, Pennsylvania, his home parish, and then enrolled at the Pontifical College Josephinum, Columbus, Ohio, for high school and undergraduate education. 

He subsequently enrolled in the University of Innsbruck, Austria, where he earned a doctorate in philosophy in 1966. He entered the seminary at the North American College and the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome for theological studies. He also earned a doctorate in canon law at the Lateran University, Rome in 1983 and studied at the Sorbonne in Paris, and at the University of Florence, Italy. He was also a graduate of the Holy See’s Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, a school for Vatican diplomats. He then served as a diplomat at Vatican embassies in Madagascar, Germany, Ecuador, and Algeria. 

Bishop Brandt was ordained to the priesthood on December 19, 1969, at St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome. He was 30 years old. In 1974, he was named Chaplain of his Holiness with the title of Monsignor by then Pope Paul VI. In 1984, he was named the vice-chancellor of the Diocese of Erie, and was named chancellor and a member of the diocesan administrative cabinet in 1991. He served for many years on the Board of Trustees of Gannon University in Erie. Bishop Brandt (then Monsignor Brandt) was named by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools to chair several reaccreditation team visits to various institutions of higher education in Puerto Rico and elsewhere. 

From 1983 to 1998, he served as the resident chaplain of Gannondale Residential Center for Girls in Erie, a private residential rehabilitation center for girls assigned there by the Courts, which was founded by the Sisters of Charity of St. John Eudes. Subsequently, he was appointed parish priest at St. Hedwig, a parish on Erie’s eastside. 

He was named fourth bishop of Greensburg by Pope Saint John Paul II on January 2, 2004, and ordained and installed in Blessed Sacrament Cathedral on March 4, 2004. 

Bishop Brandt submitted his resignation to Pope Francis on his 75th birthday as required by law. Bishop Edward C. Malesic was announced as his successor at a Diocesan press conference on April 24, 2015, at Bishop Connare Center. He became Bishop Emeritus on July 13, 2015, with the ordination and installation of Bishop Malesic. 

About Seton Hill University 

Seton Hill University is a coeducational Catholic university located in Greensburg, Pa. that embraces students of all faiths and offers more than 80 undergraduate programs, 13 graduate programs, an Adult Degree Program and many advanced certifications. Seton Hill, founded in 1885, offers students the benefit of a long history of educational excellence in the liberal arts. As a national leader in incorporating mobile technologies into teaching and learning, Seton Hill also supplies graduates with the skills they need to adapt to whatever careers they choose – even those that have yet to be created.