Pope Names Baltimore Auxiliary Bishop New Catholic Bishop of Wilmington

Pope Benedict XVI today named Bishop W. Francis Malooly, Auxiliary Bishop of Baltimore, 64, as the ninth Bishop of Wilmington.  He will succeed Bishop Michael Saltarelli, who has served as Wilmington’s 8^th archbishop since 1995.  Bishop Saltarelli offered his resignation to the Holy Father upon reaching the age of 75, in accordance with canon law.  Bishop Malooly will be introduced in Wilmington at a press conference today:

July 7, 2008

10:00 a.m.

St. Ann’s Catholic Church

2006 Shallcross Ave.

Wilmington, DE

Bishop W. Francis Malooly was ordained an Auxiliary Bishop for the Archdiocese of Baltimore by Cardinal William H. Keeler at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen on March 1, 2001. Cardinal Keeler appointed him at that time to the concurrent position of Western Vicar for the 38 parishes and six missions in Allegany, Carroll, Frederick, Garrett, Howard, and Washington counties in Maryland. He retains appointments as Moderator of the Curia and Vicar General.

Bishop Malooly was born in Baltimore on January 18, 1944. He attended elementary school at St. Ursula in nearby Parkville. Responding early to a call to the priesthood, he attended secondary and undergraduate school at St. Charles in Catonsville (now closed), followed by seminary training at St. Mary (Paca Street, now closed) and St. Mary, Roland Park (now St. Mary’s Seminary & University). He was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Baltimore by his uncle, the late Bishop T. Austin Murphy, at the St. Ursula parish church on May 9, 1970.

His parish assignments included appointments as Associate Pastor at St. Joseph, Texas in 1970 and St. Anthony of Padua, Baltimore in 1976. He was Associate Administrator, then Administrator, at the CYO Retreat House (now Monsignor O’Dwyer Retreat House) in Sparks, Maryland from 1981-1984. In 1984, Bishop Malooly became Director of Clergy Personnel for the Archdiocese of Baltimore. He was appointed Chancellor and Vicar General in 1989.

In 1990 he was named Prelate of Honor to the Holy Father with title of Monsignor. He is a member of the Knights of Malta. In April of 1999, he was awarded the President’s Medal by St. Mary’s Seminary & University for his long service to the school and to the people, priests, and bishops of the Archdiocese of Baltimore. In 2006 he received the Cardinal Shehan Award given by the Archdiocesan Youth Office. On May 21, 2006 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters by Mount Saint Mary’s University, Emmitsburg, Maryland. He presently serves on the Board of Trustees of Good Samaritan Hospital, St. Mary’s Seminary and University, and Mount St. Mary’s University.

Media note: The media contact for the Diocese of Wilmington is Robert Krebs.  He can be reached at (302)-573-3116 or rkrebs@cdow.org.