YOUNGSTOWN — Pope Francis early this morning named the Rev. David J. Bonnar of the Diocese of Pittsburgh as the sixth bishop of Youngstown.

Bishop-elect Bonnar was born in Pittsburgh and ordained as a priest for the Pittsburgh Diocese July 23, 1988. He is presently pastor of St. Aidan Parish, Wexford, Pa. For 12 years, Bonnar was chaplain of the Pittsburgh Steelers. He is editor of The Priest Magazine, which is a national publication for priests published by Our Sunday Visitor.

A news conference to introduce Bonnar is scheduled for 11 a.m. today. His episcopal ordination will take place 2 p.m. Jan. 12 at the Cathedral of St. Columba.

Archbishop Christophe Pierre nuncio made the announcement of the new bishop at 6 a.m. in Washington, D.C.

The Diocese consists of the counties of Mahoning, Trumbull, Columbiana, Stark, Portage and Ashtabula.

Bonnar was was born in Pittsburgh the fourth of five children to George and Mary Bernadette Wilson Bonnar, both of whom are deceased.

His dad was a butcher and meat manager for Thorofare Markets, and his mom was a homemaker. He attended St. Gabriel of the Sorrowful Virgin School and graduated from Seton LaSalle High School.

Bishop-elect Bonnar is a graduate of Duquesne University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in social communications. He received his Bachelor of Sacred Theology degree from the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome.

Bishop-elect Bonnar served as a parochial vicar at St. Vitus, New Castle, Pa.; St. Rosalia, Greenfield, Pa.; and St. Thomas More, Bethel Park, Pa. He served as pastor of St. Bartholomew, Penn Hills, Pa.; St. Bernard, Mount Lebanon, Pa.; and administrator of Our Lady of Grace, Scott Township, Pa. He served as rector of St. Paul Seminary, director of pre-ordination formation, director of vocations and director of the permanent diaconate.

For the Diocese of Pittsburgh, he served as secretary of parish and ministerial leadership and the vicar of clergy.

Bishop George V. Murry, 71, served as bishop of Youngstown for 13 years. He died June 5 at Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, where he was being treated for leukemia. He was the first African-American and first minority bishop to hold the position. He was born in 1948 in Camden, N.J.

Shortly after Bishop Murry’s death, officials indicated that the selection process to replace him could take a year or more.