Retired Pittsburgh Bishop David Zubik finds new calling in volunteer service

David Zubik may have retired as bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, but he hasn’t stepped away from serving others.

On Thursday morning, he slipped into a volunteer’s seat at a charity dental clinic in Pittsburgh, greeting each patient, guiding them through paperwork and pausing long enough to hear the stories they carried with them.

“The last man who was in here just told a very tragic story,” Zubik said.

The true work wasn’t in the forms at all, but in the moments spent listening.

When Zubik prepared to end his ecclesiastical career this summer as leader of the Pittsburgh diocese, he began looking for what to do next with his life. He still wanted to help others.

“I determined I wasn’t going to be a couch potato,” Zubik said.

He reached out to Catholic Charities, a social services organization in Downtown Pittsburgh, and it quickly found a place for him.

Volunteering

On Thursday, Zubik pulled his second — of what is expected to become a weekly — volunteer shift during Catholic Charities’ Health and Smile Day.

“In retirement, I want to be able to enjoy who I am as a priest, and one of the important things … that’s a part of my life, is to reach out to people who are less fortunate,” Zubik said from inside a small office room in the Catholic Charities Diocese of Pittsburgh’s new building along the Boulevard of the Allies.

In addition to volunteering, Zubik provides spiritual direction at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe and will be filling in to celebrate Mass at four parishes in the Pittsburgh area, including Divine Grace, Holy Family, Saint Aidan and Holy Spirit.

The next Mass that Zubik will be helping with will be held at Holy Family Parish in Plum at 9 a.m. Sunday, according to the church’s bulletin.

Zubik was ordained in 1975 at Saint Paul’s Cathedral in Pittsburgh. In April 1997, he was consecrated a bishop and appointed auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh.

Pope Benedict XVI appointed Zubik as the 12th bishop of Pittsburgh in July 2007, the website said, and he was installed at Saint Paul’s Cathedral two months later. He held the position until this July.

Last fiscal year, Catholic Charities served 34,836 people, which was a 42% increase from the previous year, according to Angie Zambito Hill, chief development and marketing officer of Catholic Charities.

‘My role as a priest’

As part of Health and Smile Day, Catholic Charities offered free teeth cleanings, X-rays, prostheses and crowns, fillings, tooth extractions and oral surgery assessments.

Catholic Charities dentist Robert Sabatelle said the small team, made up of volunteer dentists, hygienists and an oral surgeon, had administered two fillings, removed two teeth and conducted numerous cleanings.

By noon, the charity had treated around 17 patients.

Zubik’s job for the morning was to greet each patient and help them fill out the paperwork needed to receive the charity’s dental services.

“It’s not only doing the paperwork, but it’s a matter of sitting down (and listening),” he said.

Zubik said the man who told him a tragic story said it felt good to finally share his struggle.

“I’m able to exercise my role as a priest … for the benefit of these folks,” Zubik said. “The important part of my ministry as I see it, is to do what Jesus did, which is to listen carefully to what people are experiencing in their life.”

Susan Rauscher, CEO of Catholic Charities, had been watching Zubik work with the people utilizing the services throughout the morning.

She said she noticed Zubik gets very close with other people and will often place a hand on their arm or shoulder during conversation as a way to connect.

“He sees Christ in the people we serve and recognizes their human dignity,” Rauscher said. “It’s really kind of emotional for me to watch it.”

Last Thursday, Zubik joined Catholic Charities at the Welcome Center, greeting people and handing out sandwiches before heading over for the afternoon to St. Joseph House of Hospitality, a shelter for senior men who are homeless.

Rauscher said Zubik will be returning to the shelter Dec. 4 to serve lunch and help decorate for Christmas.

“For 40 years of my priesthood, I was involved in church administration, and to go from being in the thick of everything, and then all of a sudden I’m no longer in the midst of it all; that’s an adjustment,” Zubik said about the first few months of his retirement.

He added: “It’s good to be free of the heavy responsibilities, but there’s an adjustment about finding a new way to live, and I think that I’m moving through the transition.”