The 60th anniversary edition of The Dialog, published Sept. 19, 2025, included a review of Catholic news from 1965-2025. This is the second of 10 parts.
1971
Post-Cana forms in the Diocese of Wilmington. Sponsored by the diocesan Family Life Bureau, 56 people attended the first meeting for widows and widowers. The number of people at the next meeting was nearly double that number.
Bishop Mardaga dedicated the St. Francis Renewal Center in north Wilmington. The Capuchin Franciscan friars continued to live at the monastery, but with the phasing out of their novitiate at the site, the diocese turned much of the monastery into a retreat center.
The bishop announced an increase in the number of opportunities to receive Communion in both species, bread and wine. His decision was made to help carry out the teachings of the teachings of the Second Vatican Council.
After months of debate, legislation that would have provided state financial aid for parochial schools is pulled from consideration by the sponsor. With just four days left in the legislative session, Rep. Joseph G. Murphy said there wasn’t enough time for a debate before all of the representatives.
The state of Delaware passed a budget that made no provision for busing for Catholic school students. For the two years prior, the state had provided buses for students attending schools that were not in the same public school district as the students’ residences. The funding was restored during a special session of the legislature.
The current Padua Academy building opened. Much of the work was done by volunteers, and the full-time workers often donated their lunch hours to get the work done. The primary color scheme of Padua at the time was yellow because, as Oblate Father Roberto Balducelli explained, “We were able to buy 1,000 gallons of yellow paint at a very good price.”
Birthright of Delaware held an organizational meeting at St. Ann’s in Wilmington. The sponsors of the organization were the diocesan Family Life Bureau and Catholic Social Services, but it was ecumenical in nature.
Father Chris Plokhooy begins offering Mass at Ogletown Junior High School because of the growing population of the area. The area, with more than 700 Catholic families, is part of St. John’s-Holy Angels Parish.
1972
St. Joseph on the Brandywine School, the oldest in the diocese, announced in January that it would close in June. The religious order that staffed the school, the Sisters of the Institute of the Third Order of St. Francis, was ending its commitment to St. Joe’s.
Some 8,000 men and women volunteers began visiting homes throughout the Diocese of Wilmington as part of a new census count. The information would provide a count of Catholics, as well as some demographical information.
Joe Hemphill was named football coach at St. Elizabeth High School. Hemphill would helm the Vikings for the next 42 years, winning state championships in 1994, 1996 and 2010. He also served as the school’s longtime athletic director.
Students at Catholic schools in Delaware began taking statewide tests in grades 1, 4 and 8. The assessment was part of a plan to measure the success of all schools in the state and to find ways to improve them.
St. Francis Hospital began a building drive to raise money to help with a $12 million addition. It would add 100 beds and provide space for ancillary services.
Ground was broken in Chestertown, Md., for the construction of a new Sacred Heart Church.
St. Joseph Industrial School in Clayton suspended its educational program after 75 years of service. The Josephite Fathers and Brothers, who operated the school, made the decision because there were not enough members of the community available to continue effectively. The site remained open for spiritual activities and other events.
The St. Patrick chapel in Pilottown, Md., hosted a public Mass for the first time since 1934. Built in 1819, it is one of the oldest standing churches in the Diocese of Wilmington. It now hosts one Mass a year.
The Diocese of Wilmington celebrated Respect Life Week in October for the first time. The National Conference of Catholic Bishops passed a resolution in April urging all dioceses to do so.
St. Ann’s in Bethany Beach became its own parish. It had been a mission of St. Michael the Archangel in Georgetown, the third parish to which it had belonged. Father Richard Gardiner was the first pastor.
1973
The Church of the Holy Child in Brandywine Hundred dedicated its church in May. The parish was established in 1969, with Masses held at Hanby Junior High School.
Father Chester Artysiewicz was ordained a Glenmary priest, the first man from the Diocese of Wilmington to become a priest in that religious order.
Kathleen Graham, 26, was named editor of The Dialog.
Saint Mark’s High School graduated its first class, awarding 317 diplomas.
A robbery at Immaculate Conception Church in Elkton, Md., resulted in the loss of two ciboria containing consecrated hosts, along with a receptacle used for Benediction. The thief or thieves also stole a truck belonging to the parish; it was recovered approximately a week later in Niagara Falls, N.Y.
A temporary restraining order prohibited the University of Delaware from barring two priests from celebrating Mass in a University of Delaware building. A provision in the university’s charter disallowed that practice.
Immaculate Conception Parish moved to its current church building on Bow Street Extended after more than a century on Bridge Street in Elkton, Md.
Mae C. Killigan, 89, was baptized a Catholic at Holy Rosary Church in Claymont. She had attended Mass regularly for years before converting.
1974
A tabernacle was stolen from St. Francis de Sales Church in Salisbury, Md. It weighed between 70 and 80 pounds.
Dee Becker, the head of Delaware Right to Life and the National March for Life Committee, helped organize a group from the diocese to attend the first March for Life on the first anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.
Father Clement Lemon presided at a Mass at St. Ann’s in Wilmington where approximately 240 people received the sacrament of the sick, formerly extreme unction. It was believed to be the first such ecumenical anointing in the diocese.
Two counties in Virginia are transferred from the Diocese of Wilmington to the newly established Diocese of Arlington. Bishop Mardaga said losing Accomac and Northampton counties felt like “losing part of the family.”
Fathers William Lawler and Ed Aigner left Wilmington by bicycle for Dover for the first stop in a visit to five of the 15 churches designated by Bishop Mardaga as churches of the diocesan pilgrimage. They continued to Salisbury, Md., where they were joined by three more priests for the remainder of the ride.
Archmere Academy announced it would begin admitting girls for the 1975-76 academic year. The school cited the expanding market of female students seeking a private school education, economic concerns, and the expansion of facilities on the Claymont campus to accommodate a larger student body.
The culmination of the 50th anniversary of the founding of St. Anthony of Padua Parish was the laying of the cornerstone at Padua Academy, which was then blessed by Bishop Mardaga.
Bishop Mardaga named five secretaries to head new departments as the Diocese of Wilmington’s chancery office was reorganized.
1975
The Little Sisters of the Poor announced plans to build a new home for the elderly poor on Salem Church Road in Newark. It will replace their facility at Fourth Street and Bancroft Parkway in Wilmington.
More than 1,100 people gathered at Saint Mark’s High School for the diocese’s Holy Year convocation.
Nearly 1,400 people from the Diocese of Wilmington attended a Marian pilgrimage to the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., for the Holy Year.
Parishioners at St, Francis de Sales in Salisbury, Md., helped some 45 Vietnamese refugees begin their new lives in the United States.
William V. Kehoe, previously an assistant superintendent of schools in the diocese, takes over the top job. He is the first layman to hold the post.
The Delaware Supreme Court reverses a Chancery Court decision restricting faith groups from holding services on the University of Delaware campus. The case had been brought by the university’s Catholic chaplains.
Sacred Heart Parish in Wilmington celebrated its 100th anniversary.
Schools around the diocese began celebrating the United States’ bicentennial.
1976
The diocese expanded the role of extraordinary minister of the Eucharist to women. The time of service for extraordinary ministers was increased from one to two years.
Engaged Encounter, an offshoot of Marriage Encounter, arrives in the Diocese of Wilmington.
St. John’s-Holy Angels Parish in Newark announces plans for a building drive to construct a worship center in Ogletown and to provide for extensive renovations at Holy Angels Church. The goal of the drive is $450,000.
Bishop Mardaga set a goal of $700,000 for the inaugural Annual Catholic Appeal.
The Ulster Project, which brings Catholic and Protestant teenagers from Northern Ireland to Delaware each summer, was established. Sponsored by Pacem in Terris, it was the idea of Charles and Josephine Robinson of St. Mary of the Assumption Parish. At the time, Catholic and Protestant teens in Northern Ireland were completely segregated.
Groundbreaking for the new Jeanne Jugan Residence in Newark was held in October.
St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Church was rededicated following an extensive renovation led by the pastor, Father Jim Trainor, who was often found in a t-shirt and jeans doing the work himself, along with teams of volunteers.
Charles A. Cavanaugh is ordained a permanent deacon for the Diocese of Wilmington, although the diocese was still investigating whether to institute a permanent diaconate.
