Chad William Zielinski (born September 8, 1964) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who is the fifth bishop of the Diocese of New Ulm in Minnesota.

[1] After finishing high school, Zielinski joined the United States Air Force (USAF).

[2] After his discharge from the Air Force in 1986, Zielinski enrolled in Mount Angel Seminary in St. Benedict, Oregon, earning a bachelor's degree in philosophy in 1989.

He continued his studies for the priesthood at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, earning a Master of Divinity degree in 1996.

After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Bishop Cooney released Zielinski from the diocese to join the USAF Chaplain Corps.

[5][3] In a diocese in which only nine of 46 parishes are accessible by road, the clergy, including Zielinski, spend a large amount of time traveling to small remote villages in rough conditions.