ALASKA
Alaska Dispatch
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.
“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.”
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