| Type: | Bishop |
| Honorific-Prefix: | His Excellency, The Most Reverend |
| Chad William Zielinski | |
| Bishop of New Ulm | |
| Diocese: | New Ulm |
| Appointed: | July 12, 2022 |
| Term Start: | September 27, 2022 |
| Predecessor: | John M. LeVoir |
| Ordination: | June 8, 1996 |
| Ordained By: | Patrick R. Cooney |
| Consecration: | December 15, 2014 |
| Consecrated By: | Roger Lawrence Schwietz, Timothy Broglio, Steven J. Raica |
| Birth Date: | 8 September 1964 |
| Birth Place: | Detroit, Michigan, US |
| Motto: | He must increase |
| Education: | Boise State University Mount Angel Seminary Sacred Heart Major Seminary |
| Chad William Zielinski | |
| Dipstyle: | |
Chad William Zielinski (born September 8, 1964) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who is the fifth bishop of the Diocese of New Ulm in Minnesota. He previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Fairbanks in Alaska from 2014 to 2022.
Chad Zielinski was born on September 8, 1964, in Detroit, Michigan, the eldest of five children to Donald and Linda Zielinski. A short time later, the family moved to a farm near Alpena, Michigan. Zielinski graduated from Alpena High School in 1982.[1] After finishing high school, Zielinski joined the United States Air Force (USAF). While stationed in Idaho, he attended Boise State University and Park University at Mountain Home AFB. It was during this period that Zielinski decided to become a priest.[2]
After his discharge from the Air Force in 1986, Zielinski enrolled in Mount Angel Seminary in St. Benedict, Oregon, earning a bachelor's degree in philosophy in 1989. He continued his studies for the priesthood at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, earning a Master of Divinity degree in 1996.
Zielinski was ordained into the priesthood for the Diocese of Gaylord on June 8, 1996, by Bishop Patrick R. Cooney at St. Mary Cathedral in Gaylord, Michigan.[3] After his ordination, the diocese assigned Zielinski to pastoral positions in the following Michigan parishes:
Zielinski was elected to the Presbyteral Council in 1999. Beginning in 2000, he also served as the pastor for administrative affairs of the diocesan Mission to Hispanics.
After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Bishop Cooney released Zielinski from the diocese to join the USAF Chaplain Corps. He served combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, celebrating mass with mortar fire in the background. Zielinski was stationed at Grand Forks Air Force Base in Grand Forks, North Dakota, from 2002 to 2003 and at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk, England, from 2003 to 2005. Although he was a Catholic chaplain, he had conversations with men and women of all religions.[4]
The USAF then assigned Zielinski to the HQ Air Force Recruiting Service at Randolph Air Force Base in Schertz, Texas, followed by a stint as cadet chaplain at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, from 2009 to 2012. From 2012 to 2014, Zielinski served as chaplain at Eielson Air Force Base in Fairbanks, Alaska.[5] Zielinkski was promoted to major in 2013. He was discharged from the Chaplain Corps before his installation as bishop.
Pope Francis named Zielinski as bishop of the Diocese of Fairbanks, Alaska on November 8, 2014.[6] When named to Fairbanks, he was the first active duty chaplain in the US Armed Forces to be appointed a Catholic bishop.[7] He was consecrated on December 15, 2014, by Archbishop Roger Schwietz. Archbishop Timothy Broglio and Bishop Steven J. Raica were the principal co-consecrators.[8] The liturgy was held in the Carlson Center in Fairbanks.[5]
In a diocese in which only nine of 46 parishes are accessible by road, the clergy, including Zielinski, spend a large amount of time traveling to small remote villages in rough conditions. Zielinski said:
On July 12, 2022, Francis named Zielinski the fifth bishop of the Diocese of New Ulm in Minnesota.[9] He was installed on September 27, 2022.[10]