Bill Wade, Post-Gazette Auxiliary Bishop Paul Bradley Click photo for larger image.

Auxiliary Bishop Paul Bradley, 60, a skilled pastor who has helped to run the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh since 2003, was elected yesterday to serve as administrator of the diocese until the pope appoints a new bishop.

"I'm very humbled by the fact that these consultors have elected me," Bishop Bradley said yesterday afternoon, just after eight priests who comprise the College of Consultors met at St. Paul Seminary in East Carnegie.

"I think perhaps the greatest challenge is just to keep things moving as smoothly as they have been moving under the very, very competent direction and leadership of now Archbishop Wuerl. ... Of course what we just wait for now is the appointment of whoever it is that the Holy Father wants to appoint as bishop here."

Former Bishop Donald Wuerl, who served 18 years as head of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, was installed Sunday as archbishop of Washington, D.C. Pittsburgh's College of Consultors was then required to select a replacement. Bishop Bradley was widely regarded as the most logical choice since, as vicar general under Bishop Wuerl, he already exercised a great deal of administrative authority.

The eight priests on the College of Consultors are among the most respected in the diocese. Bishop Wuerl appointed them from among the members of the Priests Council. Most were elected to that body by their fellow priests.

The Rev. Carmen D'Amico, pastor of St. Benedict the Moor in the Hill District, administrator of Epiphany in Uptown and one of the consultors, called Bishop Bradley, "a humble and holy man. He's smart, and he has a pastor's heart. And being vicar general makes for a smooth transition."

Another consultor, the Rev. David Taylor, pastor of St. Charles Lwanga in Homewood, called Bishop Bradley, "the most obvious choice."

"One of the graces we have is that Bishop Wuerl left the diocese in great shape, so whoever was elected would have great support in keeping things going until we get the new bishop," he said.

Bishop Bradley, a Glassport native, is widely respected by priests and parishioners for his pastoral experience. After his ordination in 1971, he served 12 years as a parish priest before being appointed to oversee family ministry and then social services for the diocese from 1983 to 1995. Along the way he earned a master's degree in social work from the University of Pittsburgh.

He was in part-time parish ministry in the early 1990s, and in 1994, he was made pastor of St. Sebastian in Ross, a large suburban parish. In 2001, he became rector of St. Paul Cathedral. Then, in 2003, Bishop Wuerl made him general secretary and vicar general, the most powerful diocesan position after diocesan bishop. He was ordained an auxiliary bishop in February 2005.

Bishop Bradley said there was no way to tell how long it would take for Pope Benedict XVI to name a new diocesan bishop.

Although he didn't mention it, the neighboring Diocese of Youngstown, Ohio, has been vacant since March 2005.

"It could take a long time and it could take a short period of time. The fact that Pittsburgh is a relatively major diocese in the whole scheme of this means that, more than likely, it won't take a long, long time," he said.

He emphasized the goal of continuity, and noted that there are some actions an administrator is forbidden to take, such as merging parishes. He said that a program Bishop Wuerl had launched to identify and train a pool of laity to serve as "parish life coordinators" at parishes without a resident priest would continue on track but that he would not make the actual appointments.

"That program will continue to move forward through its various steps. It's a well-laid out program, " he said.

But "once we get to a point where those persons are trained and ready to be appointed [to parishes], I think at that point we would need to wait for the bishop to be able to appoint them."

He deflected questions from some reporters who wanted to know whether he thought he might be appointed diocesan bishop here.

"Pittsburgh is a wonderful diocese. Bishop Wuerl has grounded this church in such a way that I think any bishop throughout the country would love to receive this appointment," he said.