Five years may not seem like a long time in the tenure of a Catholic bishop, but when it is potentially the midway point of his episcopy it is a significant milestone.
Bishop William E. Koenig, tenth bishop of the Diocese of Wilmington, was installed July 13, 2021, to the role of leader in the diocese that includes nearly 250,000 Catholics in Delaware and the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
Bishops in the Roman Catholic church are required to submit their resignation to the pope the day they turn 75 years of age. Bishop Koenig celebrates his 70th birthday next month.
That doesn’t automatically mean he’s halfway through his term.
The pope is not required to accept any bishop’s resignation. Bishop W. Francis Malooly, Bishop Koenig’s predecessor, retired in April 2021, two years after he submitted his formal resignation.
“All of a sudden, I’m here five years?” Bishop Koenig said in an interview before his recent anniversary. “The last several years … just fly by … and it’s a good thing.
“The first year or so, you’re learning and everything is brand new, but then you just get into a routine, I suppose.”
The Youth Pilgrimage happens each year in the diocese on the Saturday before Palm Sunday, a tradition started by Bishop Emeritus Malooly. The presiding bishop leads hundreds of young Catholics through the streets of Wilmington to various local Catholic landmarks along the way. A local Eucharistic procession was held in the city during which hundreds of adults followed Bishop Koenig holding the monstrance with Christ in the Eucharist on a steamy day in June 2022.
“Certainly, some of things that only happen yearly, (and) the eucharistic procession in the year of the Eucharist. It was a great experience … a little bit hot that day … but we had a great experience. We had the Eucharistic Congress in Ocean City (in 2024). That was just a terrific experience.
“Most recently we had the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, where we had our part for a very packed 24 hours.”
Bishop Koenig said confirmations and getting to know parishioners and priests are some things he found gratifying. In his early days, he often spoke of his assignment to Wilmington as a blessing. After the five-year mark, he’s taken time to recall the blessings thus far.
“It’s a blessing to be in a diocese that is growing, as far as Catholics,” he said. “We have people moving into the southern part of our diocese. It’s a blessing for the parishes and the diocese. We’re blessed with the seminarians that we have and the guys that I’ve been privileged to have ordained as priests and deacons. I feel privileged to do that.
“I feel that people’s generosity in regard their willingness to give of themselves, whether it’s the voluntary things, the ministerial things that go on in parishes. Their support of our parishes and diocese with monetary support with their treasure. That’s a blessing.
“And I’m blessed by the priests that I’m privileged to be working with, collaborating with as we bring the Gospel to others. I was blessed over the last several years we had our initiative, United in Christ, that enabled us to really have people work together on the deanery level to make our parishes even more vibrant. And that’s something that we’ll continue to work at to not only meet the needs but also to be creative to bring the Gospel to those and serve the needs of the people around us.”
Bishop Koenig said creative and talented people working in the administration “has been a gift to me” and also getting to meet with bishops of other dioceses.
“It’s not a sin in the Catholic church to steal ideas from someone else. If another diocese is doing something which could be beneficial for us, it’s good for us to say, ‘OK, let’s not reinvent the wheel.’”
Bishop is also grateful for the religious of the diocese and the many priests, sisters and brothers who fill key roles in the Diocese of Wilmington.
An historic development in the church came last year when Cardinal Robert Prevost, an American-born prelate who served decades as an Augustinian missionary in South America, was elected pope. Bishop Koenig has his first ad limina meeting – a get-together where the bishops from our region meet in groups with Pope Leo XIV – scheduled for April 2027 at the Vatican. They also meet with leaders of various offices within the Vatican.
Bishop Koenig has known a couple of Augustinian priests over the years, but this will be his first opportunity to meet Pope Leo, a graduate of Villanova University, approximately a 40-minute drive from the Wilmington chancery. How does an American in the seat of St. Peter impact the lives of everyday Catholics in this diocese and across the U.S.?
“It emphasizes the fact that we’re one church, one faith, that one of us is now in Rome,” Bishop Koenig said. “I think for the pope, when he becomes the vicar of Christ, he’s no longer just identified as an American. From our perspective, he grew up in Chicago. When I speak to kids, especially Catholic school kids, I’ll say ‘the pope, he was in a Catholic school, like you.’ Or if they’re not in a Catholic school, ‘he went to a Catholic church not too far from here.’ He had a couple of brothers. He would go to baseball games. Becoming pope, I’m sure he never thought of that growing up, but he did.”
A physically fit man, Bishop Koenig has always been a sports fan, dating back to at least when his “Amazin’ Mets” won the 1969 World Series. He enjoys watching sports (yes, true to his Long Island roots, he’s still a Mets fan) and as a younger man played a lot of sports, including baseball, basketball and golf. He says he doesn’t get to keep up on his golf game so much. He has played in only a couple of golf outings in his five years here.
“My game’s a little rusty,” he said with a chuckle.
Bishop said he enjoys reading and getting together with other priests.
“My regular day is a nice routine.”
Bishop Koenig prays in the morning, gets to say Mass at various parishes and visits each school every year.
“I don’t mind driving. I enjoy the scenery, especially in the southern part of our diocese. Some counties only have one parish.”
He spreads himself around on holidays, especially Christmas when he tries to say Mass at one parish for the Christmas vigil and another Christmas day.
His upcoming birthday raised a question with a recent visitor about what he’d like to see in the diocese over the next five years.
“My desire would be that over the next five years we continue to meet the needs of those around us through Catholic Charities, religious education or our schools office, whether it’s with the support services that we offer to parishes here at the diocese.”
“United in Christ continues to be an opportunity for us to walk together,” he said. “Not just as parishes, deaneries as well as a diocese. My hope is that we continue to do that.”
