Zinkula says when he first arrived in Davenport in 2017, he decided to focus his attention on "evangelization."
"Bringing the good news to the world, to the people here in this little corner of the world, and the joy of the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ. Because we're becoming increasingly secular and we've kind of gotten lax in that, we've kind of taken faith for granted that should be passed on from generation to generation."
He also just finished a major capital campaign - to support retired priests and seminarians, and for projects at parishes in the diocese.
Zinkula says the new position means he's "going home" - he grew up in Mount Vernon, and spent 27 years serving various parishes in the Archdiocese of Dubuque.
But the problems will be similar to Davenport.
"With less and less priests and demographics having shifted so much in Iowa. There are larger farmers, smaller families, and people going to college and then leaving the state. And we have lots of small churches.
The official installation ceremony will be held October 18th.