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March 20, 2023Amarillo—Bishop Patrick J. Zurek will celebrate the 25th anniversary of his ordination as bishop with a Mass this afternoon at 4:00 at St. Mary’s Cathedral, 1200 South Washington.
The Mass will be celebrated by His Eminence Cardinal Oscar Andrés Rodríguez
Archbishop Emeritus of Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
Bishop Zurek, 74, was named an Auxiliary Bishop for the Archdiocese of San Antonio by Pope (now St.) John Paul II on Jan. 5, 1998. He was ordained a bishop during a Feb. 16, 1998 Mass at Municipal Auditorium in San Antonio, consecrated by then-Archbishop Patrick F. Flores.
A native Texan, Bishop Zurek was born in Sealy on Aug. 17, 1948, the son of Arnold and Victoria (Bohac) Zurek. His family belonged to Guardian Angel Parish in Wallis, where he attended elementary school and high school. After he graduated from the University of St. Thomas, Houston, with a degree in mathematics, Bishop Zurek attended St. Mary’s Seminary in Houston and the Pontifical North American College in Rome, receiving his Bachelor of Moral Theology from the Angelicum and his Licentiate in Moral Theology from the Alfonsianum in Rome.
Bishop Zurek was ordained a priest in St. Peter’s Basilica by Pope (now St.) Paul VI on June 29, 1975, and served as associate pastor in Temple and Bryan, and established St. Thomas Aquinas Church in College Station. He would also serve at St. John Neumann Church in Austin. Bishop Zurek worked in vocation ministry and became president of the National Conference of Diocesan Vocation Directors.
In San Antonio, Bishop Zurek assisted Archbishop Flores and Archbishop José H. Gómez in numerous ministries and served as Vicar General and liaison for partnership with the Archdiocese of Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
Bishop Zurek was named the eighth Bishop of Amarillo on Jan. 3, 2008 and was installed as Bishop during a Feb. 22, 2008 Mass at St. Thomas the Apostle Church. He serves on a number of national boards, including the USCCB Executive Committee, the Bishop’s Committee on Vocations for the Priesthood and Consecrated Religious Life, the Committee for the Protection of Children and Young Peoples, the Subcommittee for Aid to Central and East Europe and the Subcommittee for the Translation of the Bible into Spanish for all the Americas.
