Rome Newsroom, Jul 12, 2022 / 05:08 am
Pope Francis on Tuesday appointed former Air Force chaplain and Fairbanks Bishop Chad Zielinski to lead the Diocese of New Ulm, Minnesota.
The seat of the Diocese of New Ulm, which covers almost 10,000 square miles southwest of Minneapolis, has been vacant since August 2020, when Bishop John M. LeVoir resigned at age 74 for health reasons.
Zielinski, 57, has been bishop of Fairbanks since 2014. He will be installed in the Diocese of New Ulm on Sept. 27.
Before becoming a bishop, Zielinski served for 12 years as an Air Force chaplain; his final two years he was stationed at the Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska, 26 miles southeast of Fairbanks. He is an avid fisherman.