Early Thursday morning, July 16, Pope Francis named Most Reverend Edward C. Malesic, JCL, Bishop of the Diocese of Greensburg, as the new Bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland, Ohio.
In Cleveland, he fills the vacant see left by Archbishop Nelson Perez, who was installed as the Archbishop of Philadelphia in February 2020. Father Don Oleksiak will continue as administrator of the Diocese of Cleveland until Bishop-designate Malesic is installed as the 12th Bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland on Monday, September 14, during Mass at St. John the Evangelist Cathedral in downtown Cleveland.
Bishop Malesic, who will turn 60 in August, has led the Diocese of Greensburg since July 2015. He holds a licentiate in canon law from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.
A native of Harrisburg, Bishop Malesic is the son of Joseph A. and the late Elizabeth Schatt Malesic and was raised in Enhaut. He is a 1978 graduate of Central Dauphin East High School and attended Lebanon Valley College as a Biology Major for three years prior to entering the seminary.
He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy in 1983 and a Master of Divinity degree in 1987 from the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Harrisburg by then-Bishop William H. Keeler on May 30, 1987.
On news of his appointment, Bishop Ronald Gainer offered Bishop Malesic his congratulations.
“I am delighted to send my prayerful congratulations to Bishop Edward C. Malesic on his appointment as Bishop of Cleveland by his Holiness, Pope Francis. As a native of Harrisburg, I know that all of us in the Diocese of Harrisburg wish him well on this new appointment,” said Bishop Gainer. “I have known Bishop Malesic for years and have enjoyed working with him as a brother Bishop, and especially in the time we both worked in Tribunal ministry. Personally, I have the deepest respect and admiration for him as a priest, bishop, close collaborator and friend. We will all miss him as he makes this transition to Cleveland, but Bishop Malesic goes to Cleveland with our deepest support and our continued prayers and friendship in Christ.”
Prior to being ordained a bishop, Bishop Malesic served in various pastoral assignments in the Diocese.
He served as assistant pastor at St. Theresa Parish in New Cumberland from 1987-1989 and at St. Rose of Lima Parish in York from 1989-1992. In York, he also served as the Catholic Campus Minister of York College of Pennsylvania. He served as campus minister at Millersville University and Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, and at Messiah College in Grantham.
In 1996, he was sent to study canon law at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he received a licentiate.
He served the Diocesan Tribunal as Auditor, Adjutant Judicial Vicar and Secretary for Canonical Services. He was appointed Judicial Vicar in 2006. In 2004, he was appointed to Holy Infant Parish in York Haven, first as administrator and later as pastor.
Pope Francis appointed Bishop Malesic to be the fifth Bishop of Greensburg on April 24, 2015. Bishop Malesic was ordained and installed as Bishop of Greensburg on July 13 at Blessed Sacrament Cathedral.
The Catholic Diocese of Cleveland comprises 3,414 square miles that include eight counties in the north-central part of the state of Ohio. It has a total population of 2,774,113 people of which 682,948 or 24 percent are Catholic.
(Contributing to this article was Rachel Bryson, M.S., The Catholic Witness.)
By Hannah Brockhaus, Catholic News Agency
