Wexford Pastor, former Steelers chaplain who was appointed bishop

Dani Fitzgerald

| Beaver County Times

Pope Francis appointed a Wexford pastor who was chaplain to the Steelers to be bishop of the Diocese of Youngstown.

Rev David Bonnar, pastor of St Aiden Parish in Wexford, becomes the sixth bishop of Youngstown Diocese to have no bishop since June 5 after Bishop George V. Murry died of acute leukemia according to a release from the diocese Pittsburgh.

The College of Consultors in the Dioceses of Youngstown appointed Monsignor Robert Siffrin as diocesan administrator after Murry’s death. Siffrin will serve in this capacity until January 12, when Bonnar is ordained a bishop.

“I am overwhelmed by the confidence the Holy Father has shown in me to appoint me Bishop of Youngstown,” Bonnar said in a published statement. “It is humble to follow a long line of priests in Pittsburgh who have been called to include Cardinal Maida and Cardinal Wuerl, Cardinal DiNardo, Archbishop Hebda, Bishop Bosco, Bishop Tobin, Bishop Zubik, Bishop Burns, and Bishop Bradley who have been called To guard and serve the Church outside our diocese. “

Its installation will take place on January 12th at 2pm during mass at St. Columba Cathedral in Youngstown.

Before serving in the parish of St. Aiden, Bonnar was pastor of St. Bernard’s Church in Lebanon for 11 years. “Father Dave,” as many call him, graduated from Duquesne University with a bachelor’s degree in social communication. During his senior year of college, Bonnar entered an education program at St. Paul Seminary and was sent to the North American College in Rome, where he received a bachelor’s degree in sacred theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University.

Bonnar was ordained a temporary deacon on April 14, 1988 in St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome, and was ordained a priest on July 23, 1988 in his home ward of St. Gabriel by the Sorrowful Virgin in Whitehall, Pennsylvania.

He has served as parish vicar in parishes in New Castle, Greenfield, and Bethel Park. He has also served as Rector of St. Paul Seminary, Director of Preparatory Education, Director of Appeals and Director of the Permanent Diaconate, Secretary to the Parish and Ministerial Administration of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, and Vicar of the Clergy.

He was also part-time chaplain of Central Catholic High School in Pittsburgh and pastor of St. Bartholomew in Penn Hills. Bonnar was chaplain of the Pittsburgh Steelers for 12 years and editor of Priest Magazine, a national publication published by Our Sunday Visitor, for more than four years.

“I have no question that Bishop Bonnar-elect is best qualified to take on his new responsibilities. For the vast majority of his 32 years as a priest he served in the pastoral office. Youngstown believers can look forward to very strong pastoral leadership from their new bishop, ”said Bishop David Zubik in a statement released. “One of the things I admire most about elected Bishop Bonnar is how eagerly he is to respond to the spiritual needs of his people – truly a mark of a good shepherd.”