TEXT OF THE STATEMENT BY BISHOP DAVID A. ZUBIK
ON HIS APPOINTMENT BY POPE BENEDICT XVI
AS THE TWELFTH BISHOP OF PITTSBURGH

In 1965, as a junior in high school, I sat in the second to the last row on the side aisle at Saint Paul Cathedral. My reason for being there was to witness a priesthood ordination for the first time. As a matter of fact, it was the first time in my life that I can remember really taking notice of a Bishop.

I am honored to have the trust of our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, who calls me to lead the Church of Pittsburgh. Like the people of Green Bay, the faithful of Pittsburgh are deeply committed to our faith, in part, because of the fine leaders we have had through the generations. It is humbling to think of the footsteps in which I am following, especially the four most recent Bishops of Pittsburgh whom I have known: Cardinal John Wright who accepted me into the seminary; Bishop Vincent Leonard who ordained me a priest; Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua who assigned me to diocesan administration; and most especially Archbishop Donald Wuerl, with whom I was blessed to minister for sixteen years, who ordained me as a Bishop and who, particularly as my mentor, taught me what it means to be a servant leader.

Following these four pillars of the Church of Pittsburgh and their seven predecessors, I no longer occupy the second to the last seat in the Cathedral. A great deal has changed in my life. I have been assigned to a Chair called the Cathedra, and in that Chair I now take on the responsibility that belonged to my eleven predecessors. In that Chair I continue the work of the Apostles unbroken in time and united in the Spirit. In that Chair I am called to shepherd you the wonderful flock of Pittsburgh.

As I stand before all of you here today with my heart racing and my knees knocking, I am both stunned and excited. I am stunned to learn that God would have so much trust in me. I am excited about what God’s grace can do through me – through you – through us together.

Now there are so many whom I need to thank:

• I thank God who has called me to be a priest and Bishop and has instilled within me a passion for continuing the work of His Son;
• I thank Mary, Mother of Jesus and Mother of the Church who stands as a model of what it means to give God a blank check;
• I thank Pope Benedict XVI, Vicar of Christ and Bishop of Rome. The trust which he places in me fashions my ministry and energizes my soul. To him I pledge my unqualified loyalty and obedience.
• I thank John Paul II, the man who appointed me a Bishop and sent me to Shepherd the Church of Green Bay. The date selected for my installation is in fact the 49th anniversary of the consecration of Karol Wojtyla as a Bishop.
• I thank the wonderful priests, deacons, religious and all the wonderful faithful of the Church of Green Bay who taught me how to Shepherd and who captured my heart. I am grateful to all of my predecessors in the Diocese of Green Bay, most especially Cardinal Adam Maida, the late Bishop Aloysius Wycislo, Bishop Robert Banks and Bishop Robert Morneau for all their help and support.
• I thank you, the faithful of the Church of Pittsburgh, who nurtured my faith in the past and who look for my service in the future.
• I thank my parents, Susan and Stanley. They gave birth to my physical life and nourished my spiritual life. They brought me into the world. They brought me into the Church. As an interesting aside, some say that when a Bishop is appointed there is always a guardian angel involved somewhere. For me, she is in Heaven and I call her mother. I can well imagine dear Susie pulling up a chair to the Throne of God and in her anything but shy manner saying: “Okay God, I want you to listen to me for a couple of minutes” and then she would make her pitch for who she thought should become the Bishop of Pittsburgh.
• Finally and certainly not least, I thank Bishop Paul Bradley. I owe, we all owe, a huge debt of gratitude to him for leading this local Church in the past 14 months with spiritual integrity, singular devotion and pastoral zeal. He has guided this Church of Pittsburgh to grow in faith and holiness. To you my dear brother Paul, thank you for who you are and how you continue to bring us closer to God.

More than ten years ago when I stood before some of you on the day I was named a Bishop I invoked the message of another angel from Heaven, Gabriel by name. He reassured another person whose knees were knocking and whose heart was racing that she too could do what God asked. That woman, Mary, learned that “Nothing is Impossible with God.”

Today, I beg for your prayers, for your patience, and for your participation in the sacred service of leadership which I will soon begin among, with, and for you. I need you to walk with me towards God’s Kingdom. As we do so together under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we, like those first “twelve,” walk together fully aware of the challenge ahead and fully aware that it is God’s work that we do. As we do so under the mantle of the Blessed Mother, we move forward as she did with the consoling truth that “Nothing is Impossible with God.” God bless us always and in all ways.