Bishop Anthony Bosco Dies at 85

Pittsburgh Catholic
July 12, 2013

http://www.pittsburghcatholic.org/newsarticles_more.php?id=3681

Bishop Emeritus Anthony Bosco, who served as bishop of the Diocese of Greensburg for nearly 17 years, died July 2 at his Unity Township home. He was 85. “It was with deep sadness that I learned of the death of Bishop Emeritus Anthony G. Bosco last night. He was a faith-filled, humble servant of the Lord who loved his priesthood and the church. He served the people of Greensburg with joy as their shepherd for 17 years,” said Greensburg Bishop Lawrence Brandt. “I always appreciated his friendship and wisdom. His passing is not only a great loss for the people of the Diocese of Greensburg, whom he loved, but it is a great loss for the national and universal church that he served so faithfully for more than six decades.”

Bishop David Zubik of Pittsburgh stated that “Bishop Bosco was an exceptional leader of the faithful in southwestern Pennsylvania, and not just for the Catholics in the Diocese of Greensburg.”

“He was an ecumenical leader who engaged peoples of all faiths with his strong voice, quick wit and homespun preaching. He was a Pittsburgh priest who became our auxiliary bishop,” Bishop Zubik said.

“May God reward him for his goodness to so many in the name of, and with the love of, Jesus,” he added.

Installed as the third bishop of Greensburg June 30, 1987, in Blessed Sacrament Cathedral, Greensburg, Bishop Bosco served the church as a bishop for 43 of his 61 years as a priest.

Bishop Bosco was active in the media for much of his priesthood, including working with KDKA radio in Pittsburgh during Vatican II, hosting a television program, writing a column (“A View rom the Bridge”) for The Catholic Accent, the newspaper of the Diocese of Greensburg, and providing commentary for “Accent on the Air,” the former diocesan radio newsmagazine. He also chaired the U.S. bishops’ communication committee.

The Catholic Press Association honored Bishop Bosco with the 2001 Bishop John England Award, which is given to publishers in the Catholic press for their defense of freedom of the press and freedom of religion.

In 2001, he issued his pastoral letter, “On Bended Knee: The Eucharist and Service.”

Bishop Bosco was born in New Castle, Pa., Aug. 1, 1927, to the late Joseph and Teresa Pezzone Bosco and raised on Pittsburgh’s North Side. He graduated from North Catholic High School and attended the former St. Fidelis Seminary in Butler County and St. Vincent Seminary in Latrobe. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Pittsburgh June 7, 1952, by Bishop John Dearden at St. Paul Cathedral.

Bishop Bosco, who earned a licentiate in canon law from the Lateran University in Rome in 1957, served in several capacities in the Pittsburgh chancery and was named a monsignor in 1968. His many duties also included service as a chaplain and instructor at Mercy Hospital School of Nursing in Pittsburgh (1957-71) and chaplain to the Sisters of the Holy Spirit (1971-87).

He was ordained an auxiliary bishop for the Diocese of Pittsburgh on June 30, 1970, and served there until his appointment to Greensburg after Bishop William Connare’s resignation in 1987.

Bishop Bosco became bishop emeritus upon the ordination and installation of Bishop Brandt as the fourth bishop of Greensburg on March 4, 2004.

Bishop Bosco remained active in retirement, celebrating Mass at Blessed Sacrament Cathedral as recently as June 29. He also worked in various educational capacities, serving as a facilitator for the University of Dayton’s Virtual Community for Lifelong Faith Formation and teaching a religion class at Seton Hill University.

The funeral Mass was to be celebrated July 10, with Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia as the main celebrant and Bishop Zubik as a concelebrant. Interment was to follow in the bishops’ plot at Greensburg Catholic Cemetery.