Patrick James Zurek (born 17 August 1948) is an American prelate of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. He has served as Bishop of Amarillo since February 22, 2008. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the

Archdiocese of San Antonio The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Antonio is an archdiocese of the Catholic Church in the United States, and Sui iuris, sui juris Latin Church in full communion with the pope of Diocese of Rome, Rome. It encompasses in the U.S. state of Texa ...

from 1998 to 2008.

Biography

Early life

Patrick Zurek was born on August 17, 1948 in

Sealy, Texas Sealy is a city in Austin County in southeastern Texas, United States. The population was 6,839 at the 2020 census. Sealy is located west of the downtown Houston area, on the most eastern part of the Texas-German belt region, an area settled by G ...

, to Arnold and Victoria (Bohac) Zurek. His siblings were Lawrence Zurek and Dennis Zurek. Patrick Zurek attended the

University of St. Thomas St. Thomas University or University of St. Thomas may refer to: *Saint Thomas Aquinas University, Colombia *Saint Thomas Aquinas University of the North, Tucumán province, Argentina *St. Thomas University (Canada), Fredericton, New Brunswick *St. ...

in Houston, where he received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree in Mathematics, magna cum laude. He then attended St. Mary's Seminary in Houston, where he obtain a

Bachelor of Sacred Theology The Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology ( la, Sacrae Theologiae Baccalaureus; abbreviated STB), not to be confused with a Bachelor of Arts in Theology, is the first of three ecclesiastical degrees in theology (the second being the Licentiate in Sacred ...

degree in 1974.

Priesthood

Zurek was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Austin in Rome in

St. Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal e ...

on June 29, 1975, by

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...

. He obtained his Licentiate in Moral Theology in 1976 at the

Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas A pontifical ( la, pontificale) is a Christian liturgical book containing the Christian liturgy, liturgies that only a bishop may perform. Among the liturgies are those of the ordinal (liturgy), ordinal for the ordination and consecration of dea ...

in Rome. Zurek also worked as a chaplain at the

Bambino Gesù Hospital Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù (''Baby Jesus Paediatric Hospital'') is a tertiary care academic children's hospital located in Rome that is under extraterritorial jurisdiction of the Holy See. As a tertiary children referral centre, the hos ...

in Rome during his seminary days. After his return to Texas in 1976, Zurek held several pastoral assignments in Texas parishes: * Associate pastor at St. Mary’s in

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

(1976 to 1979) * Associate pastor at St. Joseph’s in Bryan (1979 to 1982) * Pastor at St. Thomas Aquinas in College Station (1982 to 1992) * Pastor of St. John Neumann in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

(1992 to 1998) Zurek served on the board of the directors of missions, the Assumption Seminary, and the Ad Hoc Committee for the Spanish-language Bible. He also led the National Conference of Diocesan Vocation Directors.

Auxiliary Bishop of San Antonio

On January 5, 1998, Zurek was appointed as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of San Antonio and

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

Thamugadi Timgad ( ar, تيمقاد, links=, lit=, translit=Tīmgād, known as Marciana Traiana Thamugadi) was a Roman city in the Aurès Mountains of Algeria. It was founded by the Roman Emperor Trajan around 100 AD. The full name of the city was ''Colo ...

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

. Zurek was consecrated by Archbishop Patrick F. Flores on February 16, 1998. As bishop, Zurek participated in numerous charity events, including one for 13 area Catholic schools that raised $230,000. He has also appeared on television con-celebrating mass between the Archdiocese of San Antonio and the

Archdiocese of Tegucigalpa The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tegucigalpa (1916 established, successor to the Diocese of Comayagua, erected 1561) is the only Metropolitan see in Honduras, whose ecclesiastical province covers the whole country.

in Honduras.

Bishop of Amarillo

On January 3, 2008,

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

appointed Zurek as bishop of the Diocese of Amarillo, replacing Bishop

John Yanta John Walter Yanta (October 2, 1931 – August 6, 2022) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Amarillo in Texas from 1997 to 2008 and as an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of San Anton ...

. Zurek was installed on February 22, 2008.Zurek speaks five languages, including

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

, Italian and Spanish. On January 31, 2019, the diocese released a list of 30 clergy with credible allegations of

sexual abuse Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assa ...

. Zurek made this statement.

The Diocese of Amarillo seeks to express regret and apologizes for the failing and sins that have hurt the Church so deeply, especially in our most vulnerable members. The Diocese especially asks forgiveness for the failings of those who have held positions of leadership in the Church.

References

External links

Diocese of Amarillo

National Conference of Diocesan Vocation Directors

St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church

Episcopal succession

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zurek, Patrick Living people 1948 births People from Sealy, Texas American people of Czech descent 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Roman Catholic bishops of Amarillo