Bishop David Zubik, newly appointed to the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, is a longtime trouble-shooter for the diocese who volunteered to fill in at parishes until the pope dispatched him to become bishop of Green Bay, Wis., in 2003.

	Darrell Sapp, Post-Gazette Bishop David Zubik pauses while talking of his mother -- his "guardian angel" -- yesterday. Click photo for larger image.

He is widely hailed as a holy man, to whom prayer comes as naturally as breath. His years in Green Bay, where he undertook parish mergers similar to those of Pittsburgh in the 1990s, may have given him new skills in overseeing parishes without resident priests and a growing ministry among Hispanics.

The 57-year-old Ambridge native "is a very prayerful and spiritual leader. He is strong in working for social justice and for the spiritual renewal of the people," said Sister Mary Jo Kirt, a "parish director" in charge of a parish without a resident priest in the Green Bay diocese.

"I think this appointment will be greeted with the most amount of happiness in the widest circles in Pittsburgh," said the Rev. Louis Vallone, pastor of St. John of God Parish, McKees Rocks.

Although many priests wanted a bishop who had been a pastor, during his years here Bishop Zubik showed that his heart was in the parish. He always volunteered to hear confessions and say Mass for ill or vacationing priests, Father Vallone said.

He had long been spoken of as a possible successor to former Bishop Donald Wuerl, who became archbishop of Washington, D.C., in May 2006. Despite Bishop Zubik's popularity, some priests had quietly asked if it might not be the continuation of an 18-year administration, because he was Archbishop Wuerl's right-hand man.

"I think that's unfair to Bishop Zubik. He's his own man," said Nicholas Cafardi, dean emeritus of the Duquesne University law school, and a former diocesan attorney.

"The trait of Bishop Wuerl that he might have acquired is his extreme dedication to his work. But when you see other dioceses, and the mess that so many of them are in, Pittsburgh has been extraordinarily blessed to have such dedicated bishops."

Bishop Zubik is chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on the Laity, and liaison to the National Advisory Council of rank-and-file Catholics who critique projects the bishops are working on.

"The fact that he has that assignment shows that he's someone who is good at working with lay people," said the Rev. Thomas Reese, a senior fellow at Georgetown University's Woodstock Theological Center, who studies the hierarchy.

Descended from Polish and Slovak immigrants, he is the only child of Stanley and the late Susan Zubik.

After graduation from the former St. Veronica High School he entered St. Paul Seminary, where he became best friends with now-Monsignor William Ogrodowski, a pastor in Beaver.

The future bishop was a model student, intellectually gifted and devout in prayer. None of that has changed, Monsignor Ogrodowski said.

"He is faithful to the church's teaching and a tremendous teacher of it. He is enthusiastic in his celebration of the sacraments. ... He is an exemplary evangelizer. He reaches out to every group in the church -- the young, old and in between, students and teachers, churched and unchurched," he said.

"How he does this is he speaks to the individual. He can readily empathize with where the individual is coming from and where they might like to go. David recognizes the good in people and works to bring this out, no matter what the circumstances of their encounter."

After St. Mary Seminary and University in Baltimore, he was ordained May 3, 1975.

Bishop Zubik spent five years as a parochial vicar at Sacred Heart, Shadyside In 1980, he became vice principal of Quigley High School in Baden. Then-Bishop Anthony Bevilacqua made him his secretary in 1987 and, under Archbishop Wuerl, he rose through the chancery ranks to become general secretary and vicar general, the second most powerful official after the bishop. He was named auxiliary bishop in 1997.

Green Bay, to which he was dispatched in October 2003, was a very different diocese -- with a more assertive laity than Pittsburgh and what one priest who knows both dioceses called "the typical Midwestern laissez faire attitude toward bishops." There was a severe priest shortage, and Bishop Zubik arrived with a portfolio to reorganize.

He got halfway through a five-year plan to reduce the number of parishes from 182 to 161 by 2010. The mergers and closures of schools and parishes have sparked some protests, but Bishop Zubik's people skills are such that he has prevented most bitterness, said Paul Wadell, professor of religious studies at St. Norbert College, DePere, Wis.

"He sees himself foremost as pastor of the diocese and has reached out to people to try to be a supportive presence. I think he's been a very good listener," he said.

He began studying Spanish soon after he arrived, and required it of his seminarians. The Rev. James Wehner, rector of St. Paul Seminary, East Carnegie, said Green Bay vocations have increased during his tenure.

"I am looking forward to his leadership in encouraging priestly vocations here," he said.

Bishop Zubik developed a successful fund-raising program that doubles as a spiritual renewal program to get people more active in the church. In addition to pledging money, people promise to pray, attend Mass and give time to serve the church. So far 10,000 parishioners have pledged their service.

The theologians at St. Norbert College were nervous when they met their new chief theologian, but he put them at ease, Dr. Wadell said. He had them to dinner at his house.

"He went out of his way to try to alleviate any fears or concerns or apprehensions on our part. That doesn't mean that we all agree theologically, but I have been impressed that he is trying to build bridges," he said.

The Green Bay diocese had been traumatized by the sex abuse scandal before he arrived. There had been abusive priests in the diocese, though recent criminal trials involved men who were removed from ministry in the 1980s.

But his predecessor, retired Bishop Robert Banks, had been an auxiliary in the Archdiocese of Boston, where a grand jury said he had impeded criminal investigations.

"That had a demoralizing effect on the diocese. When Bishop Zubik came in, I think he did a good job of turning things around in terms of creating a better atmosphere," Dr. Wadell said.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests does not feel the same way, although he met with its representatives early on. It criticized him for honoring Bishop Banks, and for not releasing the names of accused priests who had never been criminally charged or sued.

Peter Iseley , the Midwest director of SNAP, said Bishop Zubik "has done virtually nothing" for survivors.

"He had a golden opportunity to really distinguish himself coming into this diocese. He's getting out of Dodge at exactly the right time," Mr. Iseley said.

Yesterday, Bishop Zubik said the church has a responsibility to respond to victims. In Green Bay, he expanded that beyond victims of sexual abuse. Last year, he offered a "Prayer Service of Apology" to anyone who had ever hurt by the church.

"I think of people who may have been offended by sharp remarks, perhaps in the sacrament of Confession or during a church meeting. I think of anyone who feels they were treated unjustly in the church's employment," he said last year.

Despite efforts to heal wounds, he has dealt with contention. He supported the decision of a Catholic high school to fire a teacher who became pregnant through in vitro fertilization, because it violated her contractual agreement to abide by the moral teachings of the church. Her discrimination complaint made national news.

Just before the 2004 election. he urged Catholics to consider church teaching on abortion and same-sex marriage at the polls. Some viewed it as a tacit endorsement of President Bush.

"Some political figures in this election have asserted that there is a natural divide between their religious beliefs and their political views," he wrote in a column reprinted in church bulletins.

"I argue that [this] is patently false. [It] goes against the fabric of what it means to be a person of faith."

But he did not refuse communion to Catholic legislators who support legal abortion. Although he believes they should refrain from communion, he said that if they do come forward, priests can't make snap judgments about them.

"The Eucharist, to my mind, never can be politicized. ... [T]he Eucharist has to always remain something which is the most sacred reality in our church. It seems to me that it ought not to be something punitive," he told the Green Bay Press-Gazette.

He started a "40 Days for Life Prayer Vigil" last year, in which hundreds of people spent two-hour shifts in front of an abortion clinic. praying for an end to the practice.

He has spoken out against the death penalty and against gay marriage and has been especially vocal in favor of immigration reform. In May, he opposed an effort by the Green Bay city council president to deny licenses to professionals -- from bartenders to brush cutters -- who didn't promise not to hire illegal aliens.

"While it is paramount that we respect the laws of the land, it is equally imperative that we make laws that reflect compassion for the most vulnerable among us," he wrote.

Although there was some rumbling from liberal Catholic quarters when he replaced his female chancellor with a priest, he supports women in pastoral roles.

"He is very supportive of me taking leadership in the parish and very supportive of women's role in this ministry," said Sister Mary Jo, who runs a parish.

"That shows in the way he includes us. Whenever he talks about priests he always mentions parish directors. ... We have priests' congress once a year, and he includes the parish directors."

Now, she said "we are praying that our new bishop will be just as spiritual and as good as Bishop Zubik has been for us."