New bishop's priority is strengthening clergy
PITTSBURGH — The greatest challenge facing the Roman Catholic Church is the need for more priests, the Rev. David Zubik said Thursday on the eve of his installation as the Pittsburgh Diocese's 12th bishop.
Zubik, formerly the bishop in Green Bay, Wis., said that need is one reason he plans to get to know future priests better by living at St. Paul's Seminary and not in the 11-bedroom mansion where Pittsburgh bishops have lived for 57 years.
He also plans to set aside every Wednesday to meet with priests in the diocese that includes more than 750,000 people and 214 parishes. Already, he said, he has dozens of appointments with priests scheduled for next month.
"Our priests have been coming under increased pressure and responsibilities. They're being stretched in so many different directions that I want to be there for them," Zubik said from his downtown office amid unpacked boxes and stacks of framed photographs.
Today's installation marks a homecoming for Zubik, 58, a native of Ambridge, Beaver County. He attended Catholic schools in southwestern Pennsylvania, and said three people he met in high school inspired him to pursue the priesthood: a friend, a teacher and a priest.
He hopes his presence at the seminary, and in the diocese, can do the same for others.
"I think it's important that when a bishop is going to ordain new priests, that the bishop better know who they are," Zubik said. "I felt working with seminarians, we could do a really good job of going out and help some other men think about the possibilities, especially if they have an inclination to go out and look at the priesthood."
Zubik said he takes offense at those who view the increase in lay ministers as diminishing the role of the clergy or as a stop-gap measure meant to address the priest shortage.
"Both (priests and lay ministers) are distinct. Both are important to the church," Zubik said.
His other priorities include promoting religious education and encouraging more people to "live the faith."
"People will look at baptism as a time when people become a member of the church, and that's true," Zubik said. "When we become members of the church, we bear a responsibility to grow the church."
Ordained as a priest in 1975, Zubik served in several local parishes and schools. He worked for bishops in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh before being named bishop of the Green Bay diocese in 2003.
He serves on three committees of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops — the Administrative Committee, the Laity Committee and the Audit Subcommittee — in addition to the National Advisory Council.
In Pittsburgh, Zubik replaces Donald Wuerl, who was appointed archbishop of Washington, D.C., in 2006. Both are natives of southwestern Pennsylvania.
Zubik said Green Bay and Pittsburgh have a lot in common, and it makes him feel comfortable in his new role.
"I think they're people that are loyal to the church, loyal to families, loyal to their sports teams," Zubik said. "In both dioceses, people are down-to-earth."
Rocco Palmo, who covers the United States for the British Catholic weekly The Tablet, said down-to-earth and accessible are words often used to describe Zubik.
"It says a lot about a person that he doesn't want to live alone in a huge mansion," said the Philadelphia-based Palmo, who also blogs about the church.
Evidence of Zubik's popularity is on display in the front window of a restaurant in the city's West View neighborhood. The window at Isaly's has a picture of the bishop's crest, Zubik's picture and a sign saying, "The Burgh's Blessed."
Zubik has been a customer for more than 10 years at the deli, where owner Tom Weisbecker cooks and his wife, Gail, waits tables. Tom Weisbecker said Zubik is very approachable and he's proud to have one of Pittsburgh's own as the next bishop.
"Everybody likes it," Weisbecker said of his message on the window. "Even the people that aren't Catholic seem to like it."
