PITTSBURGH -- Green Bay Bishop David Zubik, a Beaver County native and a former auxiliary bishop of Pittsburgh, will become the new bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh.

The appointment of Zubik by Pope Benedict XVI was announced early Wednesday morning in Washington, D.C.

Zubik, 57, will be installed as Pittsburgh's 12th bishop on Sept. 28 at St. Paul Cathedral in Oakland.

"As I stand before all of you here today with my heart racing and my knees knocking, I am both stunned and excited," he said Wednesday, at a downtown news conference.

Zubik replaces Donald Wuerl, who left Pittsburgh to become archbishop of Washington, D.C., in June 2006.

"These are huge shoes to fill," Zubik said.

"Personally, I rejoice with the news of this appointment," Wuerl said in a written statement. "I am very pleased for what it will mean to the Diocese of Pittsburgh. Bishop Zubik knows, loves and has served the Church of Pittsburgh, and has walked with it through all of its many moments of challenge and development for the past 20 years"

Born in Sewickley, Zubik grew up in Ambridge and graduated from Duquesne University in 1971.

He served as a priest at Sacred Heart Parish in Shadyside until 1980, then became vice principal at Quigley Catholic High School in Baden.

Zubik went on to hold several posts in the Pittsburgh diocese, serving under former bishops Wuerl and Anthony Bevilacqua, until leaving for Green Bay in December 2003.

Zubik said he did not expect to be asked to return to Pittsburgh after spending less than four years in Green Bay.

"I was truly honored to serve the wonderful people of Green Bay," Zubik said. "Green Bay became my new home. Now Pittsburgh is my home again."

He said he'll be wearing two hats as a football fan -- the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers.

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