The 60th anniversary edition of The Dialog, published Sept. 19, 2025, included a review of Catholic news from 1965-2025. This is the sixth of 10 parts.
1994
A fire at Ss. Peter and Paul High School in Easton, Md., gutted a religion classroom, and damage to the facility was estimated at more than $200,000. Arson was the cause. Most of the damaged classrooms were back in service within a few weeks.
Bishop Mulvee blessed the new building complex on East Main Street for St. Joseph Parish in Middletown. It included a hall, classrooms, conference room, kitchen and more.
Bishop Mulvee was named chaplain to the Knights of Malta, a lay religious order within the Catholic Church that dates to the time of the Crusades.
The Little Sisters of Jesus and Mary open Joseph House Village, which includes one-bedroom apartments, administrative offices, a daycare center and a medical care unit for the residents.
Blanche Quackenbush Carroll joins the Catholic Church at the age of 94 at Berlin (Md.) Nursing Home. She was a member of St. Mary Star of the Sea Parish in Ocean City.
The Josephite Fathers, who had staffed St. Joseph Parish on French Street in Wilmington for 105 years, announced that they would be turning the church over to the Franciscan Fathers of Holy Name Province.
Bishop James C. Burke, a Dominican and former missionary to Peru, died at age 67. Bishop Burke had come to Wilmington in 1979 and served as a pastor and urban vicar, and he headed the diocesan Missions Office.
Bishop Mulvee issued guidelines permitting women and girls to join men and boys in serving at the altar.
Mom’s House, offering childcare and other services to any parent who is a full-time student or wishing to pursue completion of their education, found a home in the former Sacred Heart School in Wilmington.
1995
St. John Neumann Church in Ocean Pines, Md., was dedicated. It became part of St. Luke-St. Andrew’s-St. John Neumann Parish.
Bishop Mulvee was named co-adjutor bishop of Providence, R.I., marking the end of his nearly 10 years in the Diocese of Wilmington. Msgr. Joseph Rebman was elected diocesan administrator.
Saint Mark’s won the boys’ basketball state championship over William Penn when Alex Karlsen banked in a buzzer-beating 30-foot shot for a 52-51 win in perhaps the most memorable hoops title game in the history of the state.
Resurrection Parish broke ground on a project to expand worship and office space.
Major repair work was done at St. Francis Xavier Shrine in Warwick, Md., to address structural defects in the roof, masonry and steel spire.
A group of Kent County parents announced plans to open a private Catholic high school, “Thomas More Academy,” in the Dover area.
Father Thomas Peterman, pastor of St. Dennis in Galena, Md., went outside one Sunday morning to get the newspaper only to find an abandoned baby on his doorstep. The baby was in good health, and several people called the parish the next day to ask about adopting her.
Sister Mary Kathleen Kuenstler, a member of the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ, becomes the first female judge in the diocesan Tribunal.
A major three-story addition at Saint Mark’s High School includes a new lobby, chapel, media center, along with offices and a conference room.
A few thousand residents of the Diocese of Wilmington were at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore for Mass with Pope John Paul II.
An addition to St. Mary Magdalen School opened, doubling the size of the school. It includes classrooms and a gymnasium.
Bishop Michael Saltarelli, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Newark, N.J., was named the eighth bishop of the Diocese of Wilmington.
1996
Bishop Saltarelli was installed at a Mass at St. Elizabeth Church in Wilmington.
The Annual Catholic Appeal topped $2 million for the first time.
The rectory at St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Prices Corner was devastated by a fire. It was unoccupied at the time because renovations were still ongoing following a fire six months earlier. A new rectory was built.
The Benedictines religious community headquartered in Morristown, N.J., announced plans to close Sacred Heart Parish in Wilmington, which the order had owned and operated since 1875. The Ministry of Caring negotiated with the Benedictines to purchase the property.
Deacon Ruben Albano Soto y Soto was ordained a priest for the Missionary Fraternity of Mary at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Seaford. It marked the first ordination conducted entirely in Spanish in the Diocese of Wilmington, and it was the first man ordained by Bishop Saltarelli in the diocese.
The Josephite priests celebrated 100 years of service at the St. Joseph Center for Prayer in Clayton. The site was once a school.
The Shrine of Mary Queen of All Saints is installed at All Saints Cemetery in Wilmington.
Bishop Saltarelli consecrated the new altar at St. Mary Refuge of Sinners Church in Cambridge, Md., part of a $375,000 repair and renovation project.
Ground was broken for St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Bear. Mass had been celebrated in a multipurpose building that is now the parish hall.
St. Ann School opened a new wing that cost nearly $2 million. St. Thomas the Apostle School dedicated its new library wing.
1997
The Oblates of St. Francis de Sales, who arrived in the Diocese of Wilmington in 1897, celebrated a century of service.
A reorganization of the Daylesford Abbey in Paoli, Pa., resulted in the creation of Immaculate Conception Canonry in Claymont, with 23 Norbertine priests.
Oblate Father Robert Kenney announced that he would retire at the end of the school year, ending a 42-year chapter in the history of Salesianum School. Father Kenney had served as a teacher, coach, principal and president. He was also a graduate.
Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Wilmington begins perpetual eucharistic adoration.
Saint Mark’s High School debuted its first-ever home page on the Internet.
St. Francis Xavier Shrine kicked off its bicentennial celebration.
Holy Cross Parish dedicated its new church, which could seat 800. It was built in eight months.
Bishop Saltarelli dedicated Vianney House on the grounds of St. John the Beloved Parish as a home for retired priests.
New guidelines lowered the minimum age for extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist from 25 to 16, allowing high school and college students to participate.
Norbertine Father Timothy Mullen was named headmaster at Archmere Academy, the first alumnus appointed to that post.
The directors of St. Thomas More Academy and the Diocese of Wilmington announce that the school, which would open in September 1998, would be under the auspices of the diocese.
For the first time, all 56 parishes in the Diocese of Wilmington met their goal for the Annual Catholic Appeal.
The diocese held its first-ever Women’s Convocation, drawing more than 400 people to Saint Mark’s High School.
1998
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish dedicated its new church.
Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Seaford celebrated 50 years, as do Our Lady of Fatima Parish in New Castle and Corpus Christi Parish in Elsmere.
Bishop Saltarelli made his first “ad limina” visit to the Vatican, where he updated Pope John Paul II on the state of the Diocese of Wilmington.
Pilgrimages began visiting 14 churches designated as pilgrimage sites for Jubilee 2000 in the diocese.
The Catholic Campus Ministry House opened in Salisbury, Md., to serve students at Salisbury University and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.
The Resource Room at St. Paul School in Wilmington served students with learning disabilities.
Some 1,500 people gathered at Holy Cross in Dover for the first diocesan Encuentro, at which the bishop announced plans for a diocesan Hispanic Ministry.
St. Thomas More Academy opened in Magnolia.
Plans were announced for a new parish and a regional Catholic school serving the Pencader Hundred area of New Castle County.
