GRENSBURG, Pa. -- Pope John Paul II on Friday named Monsignor Lawrence Brandt to head the Greensburg Roman Catholic Diocese.

Bishop Anthony Bosco tendered his resignation in August 2002 when he turned 75, the normal retirement age in the church, but had remained in office awaiting his replacement.

Brandt, 64, has held various positions in the Pennsylvania bishops' conference, and has worked in the chancery of the Erie, Pa., diocese since 1984, according to the Greensburg diocese.

Brandt becomes the fourth bishop of the Greensburg diocese, which serves about 188,000 Roman Catholics in Armstrong, Fayette, Indiana and Westmoreland counties in west-central Pennsylvania. Formerly part of the Pittsburgh diocese, the Greensburg diocese was created in 1951 by Pope Pius XII.

"Monsignor Brandt comes, at least to me, not as a stranger," Bosco said in a statement Friday. "I have known and admired him in my many contacts with him as he served with great distinction and wisdom in the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference and the board of regents of St. Vincent seminary."

"I could not be happier with his appointment as I prepare to turn over to him the shepherding of this beloved diocese which I have served, if not always with the greatness of wisdom, certainly with pastoral love."

Brandt, a native of Charleston, W.Va., received a degree in canon law at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome and was ordained in Rome in 1969 for the Diocese of Rapid City, S.D.

He then studied at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, became a papal diplomat, and beginning in 1973 served as a papal representative in Madagascar, Germany, Ecuador and Algeria, the Vatican said.

Brandt left the diplomatic service and in 1983 returned to the Erie diocese to be near his widowed mother, church officials said. Brandt became diocesan vice chancellor in 1984. Brandt served as chaplain at the Gannondale Residential Center for Girls, a rehabilitation center, and was promoted to diocesan chancellor in 1991. He has been assigned to St. Hedwig parish in Erie since 1998.

Arrangements for the officiation and installation as bishop are still in the planning stages.