The 60th anniversary edition of The Dialog, published Sept. 19, 2025, included a review of Catholic news from 1965-2025. This is the seventh of 10 parts.
1999
The Franciscan Friars of the Holy Name Province announced that they would move their novitiate to St. Paul’s Friary in Wilmington.
The Redemptorist priests who had ministered at St. Christopher’s Parish in Kent Island, Md., for 38 years announced that they would be withdrawing from the parish.
The parish planned for Pencader Hundred was named St. Margaret of Scotland. It spent its first few years in a renovated warehouse while the church was being built.
Sister Eileen Lally retired as the director of religious education at St. Edmond Parish in Rehoboth Beach, ending a 52-year career in that field.
The state of Delaware carried out the execution of Willie Sullivan despite an appeal for clemency from Pope John Paul II.
Immaculate Conception Parish in Elkton, Md., celebrated its 150th anniversary.
Four parishes in the Mill Creek Deanery joined in solidarity with the poor of Mexico through “Project Amigo.”
Catholic high schools pulled out of the state mock trial competition because the underlying case assumed that physician-assisted suicide was legal.
2000
Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize winner, spoke in Wilmington on Martin Luther King Day. He was an anti-apartheid and human rights activist in South Africa.
Ursuline Academy, after years of looking, purchases 9.6 acres next Barley Mill Plaza for athletic fields. The facility, named Serviam Field, gives the Raiders a home for their outdoor sports teams.
St. Paul School in Wilmington marked 125 years.
Gene Donnelly retired after 30 years as the director of the diocesan Office of Public Relations, Radio and Television.
Saint Mark’s played its first-ever regular-season football game on its Pike Creek campus in the season opener against Christiana. The Spartans played at Baynard Stadium in Wimington.
“Catholic Priests of the Diocese of Wilmington: A Jubilee Year 2000 Commemoration,” written by Father Thomas Peterman, was published. It is a record of every man ordained as a priest for the Diocese of Wilmington.
More than 100 young people from the diocese traveled to Toronto for World Youth Day.
The Office of Youth Ministry/CYO changed its name to Catholic Youth Ministry, reflecting an aim to minister to “the whole child.”
The steeple was placed on Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, 10 years after the church was built. The final piece was left off because of a lack of funds.
Nearly 200 people accompanied Bishop Saltarelli on a pilgrimage to the Vatican and Italy.
The diocese announced a three-year, $50 million capital campaign to be used for parish and diocesan projects.
Regional Catholic elementary schools would be opened in Glasgow and Ocean Pines, Md., the diocese said.
2001
Miss America Angela Perez Baraquio spoke at a Catholic Youth Ministry event and met with 350 eighth-graders from across the diocese.
St. Elizabeth High School’s winter athletic teams played their final season in “The Box,” the cozy gymnasium inside the school. The St. E Center opened in the fall across the street.
Holy Name of Jesus Church in Pocomoke City, Md., was dedicated by Bishop Saltarelli after extensive renovations.
Christ Our King Parish in Wilmington celebrated its 75th anniversary.
The Oblate Sisters of St. Francis de Sales marked 50 years of their congregation’s arrival in the United States.
The Diocese of Wilmington announced that its two new regional schools would be named Christ the Teacher Catholic School and Most Blessed Sacrament Catholic School.
Diocesan Superintendent of Schools Brother James Malone listened to a panel discussion in Wilmington that featured President George W. Bush.
Archmere Academy was roiled by an upheaval among school leadership. Four top administrators, including two Norbertine priests, were removed and replaced by another group of Norbertines. The situation is eventually resolved, and the fired administrators returned.
The Little Sisters of Jesus and Mary opened a novitiate in Princess Anne, Md., which welcomed five women in formation.
St. Thomas More Academy in Magnolia held its first graduation.
Catholic Health East assumes ownership of St. Francis Hospital, its two Franciscan Care Centers, and four other hospitals.
Arson was the cause of a fire at Holy Child in Brandywine Hundred that severely damaged the rectory and left the church with heavy smoke damage. The pastor, Father James Kirk, suffered burns to his hands, and the church was temporarily closed.
The Diocese of Wilmington responded with sympathy and prayer following the terrorist attacks in New York City, Washington, D.C., and rural western Pennsylvania.
2002
St. Jude the Apostle in Lewes became its own parish, splitting from St. Edmond’s Parish in Rehoboth Beach.
Sister Ann Marguerite Gildea, 82, a Sister of St. Francis of Philadelphia, became the first woman religious inducted into the Delaware Women’s Hall of Fame. Sister Ann Marguerite was a fixture at the Ministry of Caring for decades.
Bishop Saltarelli and state attorney general Jane Brady met to discuss allegations of child sexual abuse by diocesan priests over the past 50 years.
The diocese broke ground on the future Gate of Heaven Cemetery near Dagsboro in Sussex County. At All Saints Cemetery in Wilmington, the first of seven Way of the Cross mausoleums opened, expanding capacity for burials.
Bishop Saltarelli returned from the bishops’ meeting in Dallas to begin implementing the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” as the church reacted to the clergy sexual-abuse scandal. His first order of business was to set up a lay-dominated review board as called for in the document.
Christ the Teacher Catholic School opened in September with 396 students in kindergarten through sixth grade.
The St. Francis Hospital Heart Center opened, expanding offerings for patients.
Gate of Heaven Cemetery opened in Sussex County.
Norma McCorvey, who was “Jane Roe” in the landmark Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion in the United States, speaks in Wilmington at Birthright of Delaware’s anniversary celebration. McCorvey eventually changed her position on abortion and joined the Catholic Church.
2003
Salesianum celebrated its 100th anniversary. An addition to the building on the corner of 18th and North Broom streets was part of the commemoration.
The Diocese of Wilmington announced plans to create a solidarity partnership with the Diocese of San Marcos, Guatemala. It continues to this day.
Bishop Saltarelli removes one priest from ministry and accepted the resignations of two others for allegations of sexual abuse. The recommendation came from the diocesan review board, created the year before.
Ursuline Academy fired a religion teacher who had signed a newspaper advertisement supporting abortion rights.
Legislation in Maryland that would have forced priests to violate the seal of confession failed to make it out of committee.
Sister Gerard Falkowski, principal of St. Elizabeth Elementary School for 35 years, was elected prioress of the Benedictine community in Ridgely, Md.
The Little Sisters of the Poor marked 100 years of serving the elderly in the Diocese of Wilmington.
A group of Norbertine priests moved to the new Immaculate Conception Priory near Odessa.
The diocese created new policies entitled “For the Sake of God’s Children” in the wake of the clergy sexual-abuse crisis.
St. Francis Xavier Shrine in Warwick, Md., celebrated 300 years.
The Oblates of St. Francis de Sales opened Nativity Prep in Wilmington. The tuition-free school serves underprivileged middle-school boys.
Most Blessed Sacrament Catholic School, sponsored by a group of parishes in Sussex County, Del., and on the Lower Shore, opened in Ocean Pines, Md.
