Catholic Throwback Thursday: William Francis Malooly, a son of Baltimore, is ordained bishop in 2001

 

Last week I proposed that we start a new trend on Thursdays and flood social media with Catholic images and memories each week. A number of my friends posted photos, even one who works for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops got them on board.

This week I am keeping the Catholic Throwback Thursday going by looking back to 2001 and beyond when the Archdiocese of Baltimore ordained one of our own native sons when Bishop William Francis (“Fran”) Malooly became our newest auxiliary bishop. 

The now-retired 14th Archbishop of Baltimore, Cardinal William H. Keeler, ordained this much-loved monsignor on March 1, 2001 at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen. As auxiliary, Bishop Malooly served 38 parishes and 6 mission churches of the Western Vicariate of the Archdiocese.

“Bishop Fran” confirmed my daughter Meighan (to his right) and her friends Monica (left) and Kaylan (far right) at St. Margaret’s Church in Bel Air. It was his first celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation as a bishop. (Photo by Patti Murphy Dohn)

Born and raised in Baltimore, Bishop Malooly attended school at St. Ursula’s in Parkville. Recognizing God’s call at an early age, “Fran” attended both high school and college seminary at the now-closed St. Charles in Catonsville. His formal graduate seminary years were spent at St. Mary’s on Paca Street (also closed), followed by St. Mary’s Seminary in Roland Park. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1970 by his uncle, the late Bishop T. Austin Murphy.

I had enjoyed working with “Father Fran” in the early 1980s on my John Carroll retreats when he served as Administrator at the CYO Retreat House in Sparks, Maryland. This facility is now known as the Monsignor O’Dwyer Retreat House. Father Fran’s longtime commitment to youth was honored in 2006 when he received the Cardinal Shehan Award from the Archdiocesan Office of Youth Ministry. 

Bishop Malooly has been serving the Catholics of Delaware now as the ninth Bishop of Wilmington since 2008. 

We wish him continued grace and blessings in his important work for the good people of Delaware and the surrounding area, and salute his generosity of spirit in this edition of Catholic Throwback Thursday.