Ecclesiastical province Baltimore Area 5,375 km (2,075 sq mi) Patron saint Francis de Sales Cathedral Cathedral of Saint Peter | Metropolitan Baltimore Bishop William Francis Malooly Phone +1 302-573-3100 | |
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Country United States of America Territory The State of Delaware and nine counties on the Eastern Shore of Maryland Population
- Total
- Catholics (as of 2014)
1,369,080
240,338 (17.6%) Address 1626 N Union St, Wilmington, DE 19806, USA Similar St Ann's Church, St Joseph On the Brandywi, St Paul's Catholic Church, St Hedwigs Roman Catholic, St Elizabeth's Catholic Profiles | ||
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Wilmington (Latin: Dioecesis Wilmingtoniensis) is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the eastern United States and comprises the entire state of Delaware and the Eastern Shore of Maryland (i.e. the parts of the Delmarva Peninsula not in Virginia). It is led by Bishop William Francis Malooly, whose seat is the Cathedral of Saint Peter in the City of Wilmington.
Contents
The Diocese publishes a newspaper, The Dialog, which underwent a circulation and format transformation in 2011 as a result of financial pressures.
History
Rev. Patrick Kenney established the first Roman Catholic mission in Delaware was in 1804 on the site of the Coffee Run Cemetery in Mill Creek, Delaware. The Coffee Run Mission Site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. The diocese was canonically erected on March 3, 1868 by Pope Pius IX from portions of the Archdiocese of Baltimore and the Diocese of Philadelphia, and also received the 2 eastern-shore counties of Virginia, thus extending all the way down the Delmarva Peninsula. The Virginia portion reverted to the Diocese of Richmond in 1974, leaving the Diocese of Wilmington with all of Delaware and the 9 eastern-shore counties of Maryland. In 2009, the diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the face of financial liabilities from lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by priests. The parties reached a settlement in February 2011, implementation of which had not yet occurred by May 2011.
Diocesan bishops
- † Thomas Albert Andrew Becker (1868–1886), appointed Bishop of Savannah
- † Alfred Allen Paul Curtis (1886–1896), retired
- † John James Joseph Monaghan (1897–1925), retired
- † Edmond John Fitzmaurice (1925–1960), retired (and raised to Archbishop)
- † Michael William Hyle (1960–1967), died (was Coadjutor Bishop of this diocese, with right of succession, 1958-1960)
- † Thomas Joseph Mardaga (1968–1984), died
- Robert Edward Mulvee (1985–1995), appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Providence
- † Michael Angelo Saltarelli (1995–2008), retired
- William Francis Malooly (2008–present)
Other affiliated bishops
- † Benjamin Joseph Keiley, priest of this diocese who transferred to the Diocese of Savannah and later (in 1900) was appointed Bishop there
- † Hubert James Cartwright (1956–1958), Coadjutor Bishop, with right of succession, of this diocese
- John Barres, priest of this diocese who was appointed Bishop of Allentown in 2009
- † James C. Burke, OP, served here as vicar for urban affairs (1978-1994), but not as coadjutor or auxiliary bishop (consecrated a titular bishop on May 25, 1967; served as Territorial Prelate of Chimbote, Peru)