Pioneer Bishops of Delaware

This blog will discuss bishops that served in Delaware up to 1900.  For more information about Delaware, see my blog of February 11, 2017.

The first European visitor to what is now Delaware was likely Henry Hudson, of the Dutch East India Company, who sailed into Delaware Bay in 1609.  Early colonists in the territory tended to be Dutch or Swedish, but there were small Catholic communities near Middletown and at Willow Grove by the mid-1700s.  Those few Catholics were several periodically by Jesuit priests from St. Xavier Mission in Cecil County, Maryland.  The first Catholic Church in Delaware was built by a Jesuit priest from the Mission, Father Matthew Sittensperger (also known as Matthew Manners), at Coffee Run, 1775.  The successor to this church is St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Hockessin.

Father Patrick Kenny became pastor of St. Mary’s in 1805, and in 1816, he built Delaware’s second Catholic church—St. Peter’s in Wilmington.  This church became the cathedral of the Diocese of Wilmington when it was created in 1868.  Immigrants from Ireland and Haiti had come to Wilmington starting in the late 1700s.  The 19th Century would see large numbers of immigrants from Ireland, Germany, Poland, and Italy. 

Thomas A. Becker was born to German Protestant parents in Pittsburgh in 1832.  While studying at the University of Virginia, he met Bishop John McGill of Richmond, who convinced him to convert to Catholicism in 1853.  The following year, Becker started seminary in Rome and was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Richmond in 1859.   He was born as Thomas Baker, but his parents asked him to change his name after his conversion to Catholicism.  Becker served at parishes with the Diocese until the Civil War when he was appointed to the faculty at Mount St. Mary’s College in Maryland.  He later became secretary to the Archbishop of Baltimore and then as rector for the cathedral in Richmond.  Becker had been arrested at some point during the Civil War because of his pro-secessionist sympathies.

Becker was appointed the first Bishop of Wilmington, Delaware, in 1868.  His new Diocese, which included Delaware and parts of Maryland and Virginia, had 18 churches and 8 priests.  Becker greatly increased the number of churches (especially in rural areas), schools, and priests.  He also defended the Faith against accusations made by the Episcopal bishop of Wilmington.  Becker was appointed Bishop of Savanna, Georgia, in 1886, and died in 1899.  Becker was also one of the first bishops to advocate for a national Catholic university and he was a widely read author and noted speaker.  He was an advocate of temperance and an early defender of workers’ rights. 

Alfred A. Curtis was born in Maryland in 1831.  His parents were Episcopalians and Curtis was ordained an Episcopal priest in 1859.  He served at several Episcopal churches in Maryland and began an austere lifestyle of fasting and sleeping on the floor.  He studied with a Jewish rabbi and began reading early church documents.  His parishioners complained to the bishop that Curtis was becoming “Catholic,” which he denied.  But Curtis was gradually becoming Catholic, and he resigned as pastor of his Episcopal parish in Baltimore in 1871 and traveled to England to meet with John Henry Newman.  Curtis became a Catholic in 1872 and he returned to Baltimore and entered a Catholic seminary.  He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Baltimore in 1874.  Curtis served as the Archbishop’s private secretary and was known for his compassion for the needy.  He also treated African Americans with great respect.  In his spare time, he enjoyed sailing on Chesapeake Bay.  Curtis was appointed the second Bishop of Wilmington, Delaware, in 1886, only 14 years after his conversion to Catholicism. 

Bishop Curtis invited members of the Benedictine, Ursuline, and Visitation orders to serve the people of his diocese.  He was a noted preacher and built several new churches and put the Diocese on a firm financial footing.  He also established a church, school, orphanage, and training school for African Americans with the help of the Josephite Fathers and Mother Katherine Drexel.  Curtis continued his austere lifestyle eating mostly vegetables and fruit and wearing a hair shirt and chains under his clothing.  Curtis resigned in 1896 because of poor health at which time the Diocese had 22 churches and 18 missions served by 30 priests.  His health improved and he was appointed auxiliary bishop of Baltimore in 1897.  He died from cancer in 1908.

John J. Monaghan was born in South Carolina in 1856 to Irish immigrant parents.  He was educated in Maryland and ordained a priest for the Diocese of Charleston, South Carolina, in 1880.  He served as a pastor at parishes in South Carolina and eventually held leadership positions for the Diocese.  Monaghan was appointed Bishop of Wilmington in 1897.

Bishop Monaghan created seven new parishes as well as several missions and schools, including the Salesianum School, run by the Oblates of St. Fances de Sales.  He also established St. Francis Hospital (operated by the Sisters of St. Francis of Glen Riddle) and a home for the aged (operated by the Little Sisters of the Poor).  He resigned in 1925 due to poor health and died in 1935.