The Diocese of Wilmington

The Catholic faith was first brought to the peninsula that lies between the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays in the seventeenth century by Jesuit priests who rode circuit from the Maryland colony, offering Mass and bringing the sacraments to private homes. As the country grew, so too did the Catholic community on Delmarva, and many new churches and missions were founded. From the earliest established church'St. Francis Xavier Mission in Cecil County, Maryland, founded in 1704--to Salesianum School,