Dear friends in Christ:
Over the past year, one of the things that I have come to know and appreciate about the Diocese of Wilmington is the diversity among our people and our parishes. We are blessed to have parishioners from every race, nationality, socioeconomic and demographic group living, working and worshiping in Delaware and Maryland’s Eastern Shore. We have urban, suburban, rural, Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean oriented communities. We have wealthy parishioners and those who struggle to make ends meet.
Despite our diversity, one of the many things that unites us, is our appreciation for, and love of, our beautiful and historic Cathedral of St. Peter in downtown Wilmington. We all feel a special connection to St. Peter’s as our Cathedral and to one another through this connection.
The very first Sunday Mass that I celebrated as Bishop of Wilmington was at the Cathedral, and I returned many times over the past year for such occasions as the opening of 40 Days for Life, Thanksgiving, the Consecration of Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Palm Sunday and the Easter Triduum, the ordination of Father Brennan Ferris, and the opening of the National Eucharistic Revival Mass and procession. On July 13, I celebrated my one-year anniversary as Bishop of Wilmington. I chose to commemorate this occasion with a Mass at our Cathedral.
Since the very beginning of the pandemic, we have been livestreaming Sunday Mass from the Cathedral. For those who were unable to make it to Mass, this has been a great blessing. The cathedral parish is also a vibrant community of believers that is helping to address the spiritual, educational, and charitable needs of its urban neighborhood, while working to attend to the physical maintenance needs of the historic structure.
The weekend of August 13-14, in all Catholic churches in the diocese, we will conduct the annual special collection to assist in meeting the ministerial and maintenance costs of the Cathedral. I ask you to be as generous as your means allow. Together, we can help assure that our Cathedral will remain a place of beauty and prayer for generations to come — a spiritual home for all the faithful of Wilmington.
Also, I invite you to visit our Cathedral. The Mass schedule and more information is on the Cathedral’s website, www.cathedralofstpeter.com. You can also make a secure, online donation to assist the Cathedral there or at www.cdow.org/cathedral.
Faithfully yours in Christ,
Most Rev. William E. Koenig
Bishop of Wilmington
