1700 to 1800 Before and during the
American Revolutionary War, the Catholics in all of the British colonies in America were under the jurisdiction of the
Apostolic Vicariate of the London District in England. The first Catholic mission in Delaware was established by Jesuit missionaries near present-day
Blackbird in 1747. Unlike the other North American colonies, Delaware never imposed any restrictions or bans on Catholics.ref name="ce.del"/> After the end of the
American Revolution in 1783,
Pope Pius VI erected the
Prefecture Apostolic of the United States in 1784, encompassing the entire United States. Five years later, he converted the prefecture into the
Diocese of Baltimore. St. Mary of the Assumption was the first Catholic church in Delaware, built by
White Clay Creek in 1788.
1800 to 1868 Patrick Kenney established a mission in 1804 on the site of the Coffee Run Cemetery in
Mill Creek. The
Coffee Run Mission Site was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places in 1973. in 1808, Pope Pius VII erected the
Diocese of Philadelphia out of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, placed all of Delaware into the new diocese. Delaware would remain part of the diocese of Philadelphia for the next 60 years. The first Catholic church in Wilmington was started in 1816. He established an orphanage and academy for boys, an academy for girls, and two additional parochial schools. After 18 years in Wilmington, Becker was appointed in 1886 by
Pope Leo XIII as bishop of the
Diocese of Savannah. To replace Becker, Leo XIII in 1886 appointed
Alfred Curtis as the second bishop of Wilmington. During his tenure as bishop, Curtis introduced the
Josephite Fathers into the diocese to minister to African-American Catholics, supervised construction of St. Joseph Church in Wilmington, an
orphanage, a
parochial school, and segregated facilities for the African-American congregation. Twice a year, Curtis would visit the county
almshouse to minister to the poor and bring them food. When he took office, Curtis discovered that all the church property in the diocese was under the personal name of the bishop. He spent the next few years legally transferring all the property to the diocese itself. He also led efforts to clear the sizable debt held by the diocese and its parishes.
1900 to 1960 Curtis retired in 1896 due to poor health and Leo XIII appointed
John Monaghan of the
Diocese of Charleston as his replacement. When Monaghan became bishop, the diocese had 25,000 Catholics, 30 priests, 22 churches and 18 missions, 12 seminarians, eight religious communities, three academies, nine parochial schools, and three orphanages. Monaghan retired in 1925; his successor was
Edmond Fitzmaurice from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. During his 35-year tenure, Fitzmaurice oversaw an increase in the Catholic population from 34,000 to 85,000.
Pope Pius XII in 1958 appointed
Michael Hyle of Baltimore as coadjutor bishop in Wilmington to assist Fitzmaurice. He donated his personal residence in 1959 to provide a location for the founding of
St. Edmond's Academy in Wilmington, which was named in his honor.
1960 to 1985 When Fitzmaurice resigned in 1960 as bishop of Wilmington, Hyle automatically succeeded him. He dedicated much of his administration to the implementation of the
Second Vatican Council reforms of the early 1960s, encouraging parishes to form
parish councils and to embrace the
ecumenical movement. and the
University of Delaware's Newman Centre (Thomas More Oratory) in
Newark. After Saltarelli retired in 2007,
Pope Benedict XVI named Auxiliary Bishop
W. Francis Malooly of Baltimore to replace him. Malooly was criticized by some Catholic news outlets for refusing to withhold
communion from then Vice President
Joseph Biden due to his position on
abortion rights for women. In 2009, the diocese filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the face of financial liabilities from
lawsuits regarding sexual abuse by priests. Carley died in 1998. Curry and the diocese settled the lawsuit in 2011 for $1.7 million. In 2011, a
bankruptcy court approved a bankruptcy settlement plan for the diocese. Under the plan, 150 victims, including Mary Dougherty, were to receive an average payment of $310,000 each, totaling $77.425 million. The clergy accused of abuse were not identified. ==Bishops==