Pope Francis has appointed the Rev. David Bonnar — a priest of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh for the past 32 years who has been an administrator, pastor and chaplain to the Pittsburgh Steelers — as the next bishop of the Diocese of Youngstown, Ohio.
The appointment was announced Tuesday by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio (papal ambassador) to the United States. Rev. Bonnar will replace the late Bishop George V. Murry, who died in June of leukemia at 71.
Rev. Bonnar, 58, is pastor of St. Aidan Parish in the North Hills, formed by the recent parish merger of St. Alexis in McCandless and St. Alphonsus in Pine, a position he began only in July. He was most recently the longtime pastor of St. Bernard Parish in Mt. Lebanon and previously worked at other parishes and in diocesan positions and as a chaplain to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“I am overwhelmed by the trust and confidence the Holy Father has placed in me in appointing me the bishop of Youngstown,” Rev. Bonnar said in a statement. “It is humbling following a long line of Pittsburgh priests” who have become bishop.
“Good morning, Youngstown,” he said at an introductory press conference at diocesan headquarters in Youngstown on Tuesday morning. He pledged to make a top priority of working for unity, basing his motto as bishop on words of Jesus: “That all may be one.”
“I have always worked hard to effect unity among God's people,” he said. “The work of forging this unity is all the more challenging today given the world in which we live, which on many levels is fractured, splintered and divided. We need unity in our families, parishes, neighborhoods and communities. One by one, we can bring people together.”
In his introductory remarks, Rev. Bonnar thanked numerous people including his family, teachers, fellow priests and the parishioners he served.
“I also want to express my gratitude to what I've often referred to as my first pastorate — the Pittsburgh Steelers,” he said. “What a joy it was serving as your chaplain for 12 years.” Recognizing he was now across state lines, he added: “I hope you Browns and Bengals fans will not hold that against me.”
Rev. Bonnar will be ordained and installed as bishop on Jan. 12 at St. Columba Cathedral in Youngstown. The diocese comprises six counties in northeastern Ohio. The most recent Official Catholic Directory says it consists of 154,725 Catholics and 86 parishes. (The diocese’s website gives somewhat higher figures.) It has 110 diocesan priests, 64 of whom are listed as active and working in the diocese.
Rev. Bonnar was born on Feb. 5, 1962 in Pittsburgh and went to the North American College in Rome, where he received a theology degree from the Pontifical Gregorian University. He was ordained a deacon at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome and then to the priesthood on July 23, 1988, at his home parish of St. Gabriel of the Sorrowful Virgin in Whitehall.
He began his current role as pastor of St. Aidan in July of this year after serving the previous 11 years as pastor of St. Bernard, a role that expanded in recent years when he became administrator of a South Hills parish grouping that also included Our Lady of Grace in Scott. He previously served as pastor of St. Bartholomew Parish in Penn Hills.
He addressed some of his remarks Tuesday morning to parishioners of St. Aidan’s: “We were just getting started. I've really fallen in love with you. I will miss you and the Wexford area. You know what they say? If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.”
He noted that he has often visited the Youngstown region, both to visit family and to shop when he worked for a time at St. Vitus in New Castle, just over the border. But he acknowledged he has “a lot to learn.”
“I do know that in many ways, it's similar to my own experience of growing up in Pittsburgh,” he said, noting that it is a former “mill town having redefined itself.”
“One thing I can say with certainty is there are good people here. And lots of good bricks to build with,” he said. “Whatever we do is going to be a team effort.”
Early in his ministry, when he was the Diocese of Pittsburgh’s director of vocations, he produced TV ads to run during professional football games, seeking to recruit men to the priesthood. He said the tagline he used then applies to his new job: “a priest, an ordinary man called to do extraordinary work.”
“I am humbled and excited to become an Ohioan,” he added.
Among his other assignments, he served also as chaplain at Central Catholic High School in Pittsburgh, and he was a parochial vicar at parishes including St. Vitus in New Castle, St. Rosalia in Greenfield, and St. Thomas More in Bethel Park. In addition, he served as rector of St. Paul Seminary in East Carnegie, and as director of the pre-ordination formation, vocations and permanent diaconate programs for the Diocese of Pittsburgh. He was also secretary of parish and ministerial leadership and vicar for clergy for the diocese.
He is also editor of The Priest Magazine, a national publication for priests.
“Over the course of the years, there have been a number of our priests who have been made bishops from our diocese,” Pittsburgh Bishop David Zubik said in a statement. “It is once again a recognition of how many of our priests are strong leaders and heartfelt pastors.”
Given that Rev. Bonnar has spent much of his ministry at the parish level, the “faithful of Youngstown can look forward to very strong pastoral leadership on the part of their new bishop,” Bishop Zubik said. “One of the things I admire most about Bishop-elect Bonnar is how much he is zealous in responding to the spiritual needs of his people — truly a sign of a good shepherd.”
Several U.S. bishops rose through the ranks of the priesthood in Pittsburgh, including Bishop Zubik, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, Bishop Paul Bradley of Kalamazoo, Bishop Edward Burns of Dallas, Archbishop Bernard Hebda of Minneapolis-St. Paul, Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence, and cardinals Donald Wuerl and Adam Maida, archbishops emeritus of Washington and Detroit, respectively.
The appointment wasn’t a surprise for former parishioner Kim Harris of St. Bernard Parish, which is now part of the merged St. Michael the Archangel Parish. She said he balanced various tasks, from ministering to parishioners and people in nearby health-care facilities to administrating a large parish with an old sanctuary that needed major repairs.
“He always said his parish was not just the Catholics, it’s all of Mt. Lebanon, Dormont and Scott,” she said, recalling seeing him jogging through Mt. Lebanon’s Uptown area and stopping to talk to people he met along the way. “He was very out there and getting to know people and understanding who they were and where they were coming from.”
Several U.S. bishops rose through the ranks of the priesthood in Pittsburgh, including Bishop Zubik, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, Bishop Paul Bradley of Kalamazoo, Bishop Edward Burns of Dallas, Archbishop Bernard Hebda of Minneapolis-St. Paul, Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence, and cardinals Donald Wuerl and Adam Maida, archbishops emeritus of Washington and Detroit, respectively.
Peter Smith: petersmith@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1416; Twitter @PG_PeterSmith.
First Published: November 17, 2020, 11:29 a.m.
Updated: November 17, 2020, 11:32 a.m.
