Background
Zurek, Patrick James was born on August 17, 1948 in Wallis, Texas, United States. Son of Arnold and Victoria Zurek.
Zurek, Patrick James was born on August 17, 1948 in Wallis, Texas, United States. Son of Arnold and Victoria Zurek.
Bachelor of Science in Mathematics magna cum laude, University St. Thomas, Houston. STB in Theology magna cum laude, University St. Thomas, 1974. Licentiate of Sacred Theology in Moral Theology magna cum laude, Institute of Lateran University, 1976.
Zurek trained in Rome as a moral theologian who was a chaplain at the Bambino Gesu Children"s Hospital during his seminary days. Zurek was ordained a priest in Rome on 29 June 1975 by Pope Paul VI along with 359 others for the Holy Year of 1975. He has been on the board of the directors of missions, the Assumption Seminary, and the Ad Hoc Committee for the Spanish-language Bible.
In his capacity as Bishop, he has participated in numerous charity events, including one for 13 area Catholic schools that raised $230,000.
He has also appeared on television concelebrating Mass in honor of the faith connection between The Archdioceses of San Antonio and Tegucigalpa, Honduras. While a priest, he also led the National Conference of Diocesan Vocation Directors before being named an auxiliary bishop of San Antonio on 5 January 1998 by Pope John Paul II where he replaced John Yanta.
He speaks five languages, including his ancestral Czechoslovakian, Italian and Spanish.
Member of Czech American Priests Association (president, Chief Executive Officer since 2002), United States Conference Catholic Bishops.