A changing of the guard

The Diocese of Amarillo on Thursday welcomed its new bishop, Patrick J. Zurek, who will succeed Bishop John W. Yanta.

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Amarillo's new bishop

Patrick J. Zurek will become the eighth bishop of Amarillo when he is formally installed on Feb. 22.

He was born in Sealy on Aug. 17, 1948, to Arnold and Victoria Zurek. He is the youngest of three children.

He was ordained a priest by Pope Paul VI in 1975.

He served as an associate pastor of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Temple from 1976 to 1979.

He was an associate pastor at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Bryan from 1979 to 1982.

He was the founding pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in College Station from 1982 to 1992.

He served as pastor of St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Austin from 1992 to 1998.

He was ordained auxiliary bishop of San Antonio by Archbishop Patrick F. Flores in 1998.

He has a Bachelor of Science in mathematics from the University of St. Thomas.

Major Seminary was at St. Mary's Seminary.

S.T.B. in Theology from the University of St. Thomas-Angelicum

S.T.L. in Moral Theology from Alfonsianum-Institute of the Lateran University.

He speaks English, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Czech.

Zurek was introduced by Yanta at a news conference at the Bishop DeFalco Retreat Center before a packed room of clergy and media. Yanta's resignation, submitted 15 months ago to the pope upon the mandatory retirement age of 75, was accepted Thursday.

Zurek, 59, comes from San Antonio where he served the past 10 years as auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of San Antonio.

"This will be a big change for me here in Amarillo," he said. "The song, 'Amarillo By Morning,' will have new meaning for me."

He said he is looking forward to meeting people and settling into his new position and home.

"I do come with no agenda," he said. "I don't know the diocese. You don't know me, and I don't know you."

He said he wants to learn about the people and needs here in the coming months.

Yanta said Zurek loves to teach and will be a good shepherd for the people of Amarillo as the eighth bishop here.

Yanta began the conference by announcing his resignation.

"His holiness Pope Benedict XVI has accepted my resignation as Bishop of Amarillo effective today, Jan. 3, 2008. I am humbly grateful to the late Roman Pontiff John Paul II for the trust placed in me by appointing me to the See of Amarillo Jan. 21, 1997," he said.

Yanta will stay on until Feb. 22 when Zurek is installed as bishop and given the keys to the diocese.

"I'm looking forward to retirement," Yanta said after the conference. "I'm especially looking forward to catching up with relatives, with family and friends."

Zurek told the gathering that God must have a sense of humor, as this is the second time he had been assigned to a post just before Christmas, but required to keep the news secret until after the holidays. He said it was really hard at Christmas to be home with all his family and not being able to say anything.

"I love working with my priests, deacons, religious men and women and lay leaders who are the core of the church," he said.

Zurek speaks five languages and slipped fluently between English and Spanish while introducing himself.

In a statement issued by the Archdiocese of San Antonio, Archbishop Jose H. Gomez praised the job done there by Zurek.

"Bishop Zurek has been a blessing in many ways to me personally and to all the people of the Archdiocese of San Antonio," he said. "All who have worked alongside him will miss a good friend and a talented and dedicated bishop.

"However, I am happy that the Diocese of Amarillo will now benefit from his inspired leadership and dedication," he said.