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	Acting Bishop Earns High Marks Zubik Says Bradley Has Done 'A Splendid Job' the Last 15 Months By Ann Rodgers Post-Gazette September 24, 2007 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07267/820108-85.stm When he was elected to run the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh while it was between bishops, Auxiliary Bishop Paul Bradley didn't move into the suite that Archbishop Donald Wuerl had vacated. After 15 months of service, he is prepared to hand the reins to Bishop David Zubik, who is returning to his home diocese from Green Bay, Wis. Across from Bishop Bradley's office recently, diocesan officials and employees were stuffing thousands of envelopes with color-coded invitations to Bishop Zubik's installation Mass. "There would be many words that I could use to describe this past 15 months," said Bishop Bradley, 61. "It's been interesting, it's been humbling, it's been energizing, it's been encouraging. And, in the midst of it, it's been a joy to be able to serve the church in this way that I certainly never anticipated." His favorite task was visiting parishes, whether they were struggling with problems or, more often, celebrating. "My overarching sense is that the faith of the people is strong," he said. Strong faith characterized his childhood in Glassport. Among the earliest memories with his seven siblings was seeing their parents kneeling in prayer each morning and night. His two older sisters entered religious orders. "Those were the days when the sisters who taught in the schools frequently would raise the question, 'Has anyone thought about being a priest?' " he said. Such questions prompted him to enter a high school seminary, St. Meinrad's in St. Meinrad, Ind. Ordained in 1971, he served at St. Sebastian in Ross, St. Paul in Butler and the former St. Kieran in Lawrenceville. He became good friends with the Rev. Robert Ahlin, who was ordained the same year. "He always had a great knack for organization and executing what he had planned," Father Ahlin said. "When he was an assistant at St. Sebastian, he got their youth group to do an annual Lenten show to raise money for world hunger, and it continues today." In 1983 he was appointed director of the diocesan Office for Family Life and was later was promoted to secretary for human services. He was committed to helping the homeless, said the Rev. James Garvey, then director of St. Joseph's House of Hospitality in the Hill District. When Father Garvey spent a lot of time and energy helping a Protestant church start a ministry to convalescent homeless people, then-Father Bradley encouraged him, he said. In 1995 he left the chancery to become pastor of St. Sebastian in Ross, and then rector of St. Paul Cathedral in 2001. Two years later he was called back to the chancery as general secretary and vicar general, to handle day-to-day administration. He became an auxiliary bishop in 2005, and was elected by the priests in the college of consultors to be administrator of the diocese in 2006, after Bishop Donald Wuerl became archbishop of Washington, D.C. "He didn't miss a beat," Father Garvey said, because he knew the inner workings of the diocese. Sister Margaret Hannan, a former chancellor of the diocese, and now president of the Pittsburgh Sisters of Mercy, gives him high marks for administration. He's very detail oriented and gives everyone a fair hearing, she said. "He's done a superb job of keeping everything moving. You could have had somebody in there who just slowed everything down, but he kept up the pace," she said. Most people are oblivious to the structure of church bureaucracy, but it often reveals priorities. Bishop Bradley made significant changes in Pittsburgh. The secretariat for ministerial leadership became the secretariat for parish life and ministerial leadership, empowering laity to envision and enact new ways of doing ministry. "We have people who are trained and much better prepared to go forth and not only encourage but challenge parishes where they need to be challenged in terms of envisioning ministry for the future," Bishop Bradley said. The diocese has had someone on staff to assist victims of clergy sexual abuse since 1993, but Bishop Bradley created a new Office for the Protection of Children and Young People to deal with broader issues. Most recently, although no court case compelled him to, he made a $1.25 million settlement with 32 people who had accused priests of molesting them. As part of a program to do more ministry with fewer priests, he appointed a nun as the first "parish life collaborator" to oversee a parish without a resident priest. He changed the training for permanent deacons from a special program that was opened up only in years when the bishop wanted it, into a regular track, like the priesthood, that new men can enter each year. But he takes no credit for any of it. "What I was able to do was simply to build on what Bishop Wuerl had done and move forward in the things that I feel confident in saying that he would have moved forward himself," Bishop Bradley said. The Rev. Louis Vallone, pastor of St. John of God, McKees Rocks, and administrator of St. Catherine in Crescent, doesn't believe Bishop Bradley gives himself enough credit. He changed the style of deanery meetings, when he gathered with priests from each region. Instead of spending time giving his own report, he mailed it to priests ahead of time and arrived saying, "Now, what do you want to talk about?" Father Vallone said. When Bishop Bradley steps aside on Friday, he will be glad that the man moving into the bishop's suite is Bishop Zubik, with whom he worked for many years. "We certainly would have warmly welcomed anyone who the Holy Father appointed to be the bishop," he said. "The chances of that being somebody we didn't know were very great. When it turned out to be Bishop Zubik, someone that we know and love and care about in such a warm way, that is just very exciting." Bishop Zubik has returned the compliment, saying that he had expected Bishop Bradley to receive the Pittsburgh appointment. In an editorial in a recent Pittsburgh Catholic, Bishop Zubik wrote that Bishop Bradley has done "a splendid job." Bishop Bradley said he looks forward to returning to his former job of overseeing day-to-day administration. He also expressed gratitude that no headline-hogging disasters struck the diocese during his tenure. After Bishop Zubik is installed, he said, "I'll be breathing a big sigh of relief and singing the 'Hallelujah Chorus.' "
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