Wilmington, Diocese of
The Diocese of Wilmington is both a diocese and a city in the State of Delaware, U.S.A.
The diocese was erected by Pius IX on March 3, 1868, and today comprises the State of Delaware, two counties in Virginia, and nine counties in Maryland, covering a total area of 1,960 square miles in Delaware, 3,461 in Maryland, and 790 in Virginia, with a total population of 535,947, of whom 36,907 are Catholic.
The first Catholic mission was established in 1704 at Bohemia Manor in Cecil County, Maryland, by the Jesuits, who remained the sole Catholic presence on the peninsula until 1808, when the Rev. Patrick Kenny came to settle at Coffee Run, Delaware. The first church in Wilmington, St. Peter’s, built in 1808, later became the cathedral.
At the time of the diocese’s erection, the first bishop, Abp. A. Becker, found 8 diocesan priests, 14 very poor churches, and approximately 5,000 Catholics. As of 1952, the diocese now has 67 diocesan priests and 51 religious from six congregations, 45 parishes, 1 chapel, 16 missions, 4 stations, 17 seminarians, 2 scholastics, 5 orphanages, and 1 hospital.