Diocese of Amarillo welcomes Bishop Patrick J. Zurek as new shepherd

Jordan McMorrough
Today’s Catholic

The eighth bishop of Amarillo, Bishop Zurek, enjoys a moment with the seventh bishop of Amarillo, Bishop John W. Yanta, at the reception.
Rusty Vessels | The West Texas Catholic

AMARILLO • Former San Antonio Auxiliary Bishop Patrick J. Zurek became the eighth chief shepherd of the Diocese of Amarillo at the end of February, viewing a “sea of habits,” from religious orders in his new diocese at his installation liturgy.

The Mass of installation took place Feb. 22. Archbishop José H. Gomez presided and Cardinal Oscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga, SDB, from the Archdiocese of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and Cardinal Daniel DiNardo from the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston attended as observers and concelebrants. Both cardinals are personal friends of Bishop Zurek and had just returned from trips to Rome.

More than a dozen bishops concelebrating the Mass hailed not only from Texas and surrounding states, but also California and South Dakota.

The weather across the country became a big factor and a source of tension as the days began to unfold, with inclement weather delaying or canceling flights of incoming dignitaries.

Archbishop Gomez and other guests from San Antonio experienced flight delays, while a contingent from the archdiocesan Pastoral Center took a chartered bus for the 10-hour trip north.

Close to a dozen priests from the Archdiocese of San Antonio also made their way north for the liturgy by plane and automoble. Meanwhile, Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the apostolic nuncio in Washington, D.C., did not even arrive in Amarillo due to the weather.
“Archbishop Sambi is particularly praying for Bishop Zurek and the church in Amarillo today,” Archbishop Gomez said during the Mass of installation.
“He is the one who is supposed to bring the document from the Holy Father with the appointment letter,” the archbishop quipped, with laughter following. “Thanks to modern technology, we have the document,” he informed the assembly.

The document was first shown to Bishop Zurek then the College of Consultors. The group is usually made up of the most senior priests of the diocese or those clerics who might have a certain expertise in a particular area. They are appointed by the bishop. After review by the consultors, the document was then presented back to Archbishop Gomez, who read it aloud.

The capacity crowd of 800-plus who filled St. Thomas the Apostle Church in the Panhandle watched and listened intently as Bishop Zurek subsequently took his seat in the cathedra, the chair representative of the bishop’s apostolic authority.

Bishop Zurek was then given his crosier, or pastoral staff, a sign of being the new chief shepherd of the diocese, as the church erupted into a long, warm cascade of welcoming applause. Afterwards, the Amarillo diocesan choir burst into the “Gloria,” a song giving thanks to God.

The evening prior to the installation, on Feb. 21, Bishop Zurek presided over solemn vespers, the evening prayer of the church. The service was held at St. Laurence Cathedral. During that event, lay and religious members of the community, both Catholic and non-Catholic, were formally introduced to the bishop, each of them extending a warm welcome and expressing and eagerness to work with him.

In a Feb. 26 interview with The West Texas Catholic, newspaper of the Diocese of Amarillo, Bishop Zurek spoke about the welcome he received, and specifically the vespers service and the installation Mass.
“I could not have been more pleased,” he said. “The happy moment had finally come. When the procession reached the altar at the vespers service, I was so glad that it had finally begun.” He was also touched, he said, by the size of the crowd at both the vespers and the Mass. The cathedral and St. Thomas the Apostle Church were filled to overflowing. At the installation Mass, Bishop Zurek made reference to the great number of women religious who were present. “They appear to be legion today,” he said. “I hope they are ours.”

Bishop Zurek said that prior to the installation Mass he felt a particular eagerness to finish the ceremony and “begin the business of the church.”
“The installation Mass could not have been better in any way,” he said. He could not wait to sit in the cathedra, marking his canonical possession of the diocese, so that he could begin work, he said. His thought as he actually took his seat as bishop of Amarillo was, “now we march on to do the work of the church.”

Bishop Zurek expressed particular pleasure that his mother, at 92 years of age, was able to be at the vespers service and installation Mass, as well as many other family members who were there.
When asked about his impression of the people of the Amarillo Diocese, he said, “My sense of the people is that they are a very warm, very welcoming people who love the church very much and are very committed to the Catholic faith.”

Bishop Zurek succeeds Bishop John W. Yanta, another former San Antonio auxiliary bishop, whose retirement was accepted by Pope Benedict XVI following a decade of service there. Bishop Yanta now resides again in San Antonio and assists Archbishop Gomez on occasion.