Air Force chaplain named Fairbanks bishop

Alaska Dispatch
November 8, 2014

http://www.adn.com/article/20141108/air-force-chaplain-named-fairbanks-bishop

The Diocese of Fairbanks has a new bishop -- a priest who may be uniquely qualified to serve the members of the military in the Roman Catholic diocese that spans more than 400,000 square miles, from the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in the west to the Canadian border in the east and all the way to the North Slope.

Rev. Chad W. Zielinski, named Saturday as the new leader of the diocese, is currently an active-duty chaplain at Eielson Air Force Base outside Fairbanks, according to the Catholic Anchor, the newspaper published by the Archdiocese of Anchorage.

The Catholic Anchor reports that "Bishop Elect Zielinski was ordained a priest for the Catholic Diocese of Gaylord, Michigan, in 1996. Before becoming a priest, he was an active duty Air Force serviceman for four years, before feeling called to the priesthood."

Zielinski became an Air Force chaplain after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. 

"Bishop Elect Zielinski has seen three tours of duties in war zones. His last assignment was in Afghanistan where he served 18 forward combat positions. Often his prayer services and Masses were punctuated by the sound of live fire. On one occasion he was travelling in a military convoy that came under attack and the truck in front of his was destroyed by a rocket. One of his parishioners was driving that truck and died in the attack. He ended that day conducting a funeral service."

According to a news release from the Fairbanks diocese, Zielinski's appointment marks the "first time in recent history an active military chaplain has been named to be the Ordinary, or spiritual head, of a diocese."

Times have not always been easy for the Diocese of Fairbanks, which filed for bankruptcy in 2008 as it struggled to respond to claims of sexual abuse, many of them decades old, from hundreds of victims. The diocese emerged from bankruptcy in 2010 under a plan through which it agreed to pay nearly $10 million in damages, plus millions more in attorneys' fees. Last month, a diocesan priest, Rev. Clint Landry, was arrested on federal charges "alleging the production and procurement of child pornography," according to the diocese. Landry had been suspended from ministerial duties in May, when the diocese "became aware of possible computer misuse" and alerted the authorities.

The Diocese of Fairbanks has been under the leadership of Anchorage Archbishop Roger Schwietz since 2013, when Bishop Donald Kettler was named head of the Diocese of St. Cloud, Minnesota.

Zielinski will be installed as Bishop of Fairbanks at 3 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 15 at the Carlson Center.