News

Bishop eager to start serving Green Bay church

By Tony Staley
Compass Editor

Getting to know him Here are other aspects of Bp. David Zubik: Car buff: He's been interested in cars since he was a youngster and subscribes to Car & Driver and Motor Trend magazines. He drives a 2001 Toyota Avalon. Movie fan: Enjoys going to movies with his mother. Recent favorites include Seabiscuit and Radio; his all-time favorite is Shoes of the Fisherman. Newsaholic: "Drinks in" as much national and local TV news as he can; subscribes to Newsweek, Time, U.S. News & World Report, and America; reads theological books and magazines. Doctor in the House: ER is his favorite show. Has always been intrigued by medical programs, including Dr. Kildare, St. Elsewhere and Marcus Welby MD. Loves Lucy: Big fan of Lucille Ball and I Love Lucy. Friends have given him an extensive collection of related memorabilia, including coffee mugs and cookie jars. Sing a Song: Fan of Kenny G, John Tesh, Yanni, Celine Dion, Barbra Streisand, Rosemary Clooney, Frank Sinatra and 1960s' Motown artists such as The Supremes, Temptations, Four Tops and Martha and the Vandellas. As for heavy metal - "Heavens no. It bothers my ears." He also enjoys singing and is known for his good voice. The Godfather: Has six godchildren, Carla and James Schneider, John Farkasovsky, Hayden Orler, Sara Fultz and Craig Pabinowski. Off to Work I Go: Held summer jobs after graduating from high school through the seminary as a mail carrier (one year, worked 11½ hours a day, six days a week); three years as a laborer with a steel maker; three years for a railroad. Church View: Traditionalist, which he defines as "having a very deep appreciation of the teachings of the church and helping people understand that better." Football: Will cheer for both the Pittsburgh Steelers (American Football Conference) and Green Bay Packers (National Football Conference).

At age 54, Bp. David Zubik is starting a new job in a place he's only been once for about 24 hours two months ago.

But he's moving 700 miles northwest from his native Pittsburgh to Green Bay confident that, "This is where God's Spirit wants to send me."

He's eager to meet the people of the diocese.

"Since my appointment, I have received so many letters and so many expressions of support."

Pittsburgh is known as a friendly place that warmly welcomes strangers and makes them feel at home, he said. He expects a similar response in northeast Wisconsin.

"People who have lived in Green Bay or people who have had an opportunity to go there regularly for business have all said the same things: 'What a wonderful, wonderful and friendly group of people the citizens of Green Bay are,'" he said.

He said Card. Adam Maida, who led the diocese from 1984 to 1990, told him his mother still receives phone calls and best wishes from people in Green Bay, more than 13 years after he left.

Bp. Zubik, an only child, was driving to Green Bay from Pittsburgh with his parents, Stanley and Susan (Raskosky) Zubik, who will remain in Green Bay through the holidays. They are considering moving here, though health concerns in the last couple of years make them reluctant to move far from their doctors.

Bp. Zubik calls his parents at least once a day and, about two Sundays a month, goes to the movies and dinner with his mother.

Grew up in a steel town

His parents have always lived 23 miles northwest of Pittsburgh in Ambridge. It was once a thriving steel town of about 13,000 people, but its population has dropped by half since the domestic steel industry collapsed in the 1980s.

He calls Ambridge a wonderful, faith-filled community - "a mosaic of many ethnic groups from Germany and eastern Europe" - in which to grow up.

His paternal grandfather emigrated from Poland and both his maternal grandparents emigrated from Czechoslovakia, his grandfather in 1917 and his grandmother the next year.

Bp. Zubik forged a special bond with his maternal grandmother, Susan Raskosy. He affectionately dubbed her "Porchy" (rather than the more common "Baba") because she sat on the front porch during the summer watching the traffic and talking with passersby.

They became close because she babysat him and he had lunch with her everyday because his grandparents lived only a block from St. Stanislaus School, while his parents lived five miles away on the edge of town.

"My grandmother was a very simple, faith-filled person," he said. "My strong recollection of her is that she really lived her faith. She never had an unkind word to say about anybody."

For example, his mother told him how his grandparents lost a great deal of money in the 1929 stock market crash. But throughout the Depression, his grandmother always set an extra place at the table for anyone who was hungry and often welcomed people they didn't know to their home for dinner.

"I would have to say that was pretty much the spirit of her own life," Bp. Zubik said.

Supported him in prayer

She encouraged and prayed for him all his life, he said.

"Probably the most touching thing I remember about her was that she was very ill in the months before I was ordained a priest," he said. "She could only get out of bed for about 10 minutes in the morning and 10 minutes in the afternoon."

But she came and stayed for his entire first Mass.

"She was just so energized after the first Mass," he said. "Then she died 10 days later."

She was the first person with whom he celebrated the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick and her funeral was his first as a priest.

"We had a very strong bond," he said. "In fact, she died the day I reported for my first assignment as a priest. The way all this fell into place was almost as though she felt she did her work to help me prepare to become a priest and, once that was in place, she was able to let go and go be with God in heaven."

Throughout his 28½ years of priesthood, "there hasn't been a day that I know she hasn't been with me. I see her as my guardian angel."

He believes the love for people he witnessed in his family is the main talent he brings to Green Bay.

"The shepherd's staff that is part of a bishop's insignia says the heart of what I think every bishop has to be; that we've got to be concerned about God's people and do everything we can to serve them well and to help them to draw closer to the Lord."

He said he looks forward to working with priests and lay leaders in parishes to meet people's "deep hunger and thirst" for coming closer to God.

Bishop David Zubik's Installation as 11th Bishop of the Diocese of Green Bay
• New bishop taking office at Mass on Friday     The ceremony will be broadcast live on both     radio and television     • Sidebar: New bishop     • Sidebar: Setting priorities • Bp. Zubik's schedule for Dec. 11-24 • Proud father: 'You're really going to like him'     Stanley Zubik says his son, the bishop, cares     about all people, rich, poor, young, old • How a bishop takes charge • Foundations of Faith -- The clothes don't make, but they explain, a bishop • Editorial -- New leader     Bp. David Zubik comes highly recommended     and he wants to get to know all of us Past coverage:    November 21, 2003 issue:      • Pittsburgh planning farewell Mass for Bishop Zubik Sunday    November 14, 2003 issue:      • Visits scheduled for bishop         Bp. Zubik planning visits to Manitowoc,         Antigo, Marinette, Green Bay and Appleton    November 7, 2003 issue:      • Bp. Zubik to be installed Dec. 12 at St. Agnes         The 2 p.m. Mass will be shown live on         Green Bay channel 11    Other coverage:      • Links to Oct. 10 and Oct. 17 Compass coverage of new Bishop

Applying Scripture to life

As a preacher, he likes to use stories to help people apply the Scriptures to their daily life.

His first grade teacher - Felician Sr. Estelle - made it clear "that faith can never be divorced from life," he said. "Faith is not something that is celebrated only when we come together to celebrate the Eucharist. It's meant to be lived in everything we do."

He said his life and prayer are intertwined, embracing the liturgy of hours, daily Mass and reflective prayer while driving, walking or in a chapel - including the chapel in the bishop's house in Green Bay the night before his appointment was announced.

He makes at least one retreat a year, regularly goes to a spiritual director and receives the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

He said he wants people to know that he's approachable.

"It's very important, whenever we're involved in consultative efforts in the church, to be able to really listen to where people are. We may not always agree on everything, but I think it's important to hear people out."

He wants to meet with people who disagree with church teaching on birth control, celibacy for priests and other matters, listening to their concerns and having them listen to him.

Church is not out of step

"We need to discuss a little bit more openly when people have issues about the faith. Maybe they don't have a clear understanding of why the church teaches what it does. Even if, after these discussions, some people still disagree with those positions, at least they will understand where the church is coming from and won't be defining it as 'the church is cold-hearted' or 'the church is out of step.' I don't believe the church is out of step at all. I think the church has a major responsibility for being a moral voice."

For example, he said, science needs to respect God as the creator of all life. He called partial-birth abortion "probably the most grotesque example of the disrespect we can have for human life."

The church teaches respect for life all the way on the continuum from the first moments of conception to natural death. That means, he said, respecting the right to life each person has, including persons with disabilities, as well as rooting out prejudices related to color, gender or political beliefs.

Finally, Bp. Zubik admitted to one weakness - a tendency to over schedule himself. "And I think I'll probably let everybody else learn some of the other ones from me," he said with a laugh.