W. Francis Malooly

Early life and education

William Francis Malooly, who is known better as Francis Malooly or W. Francis Malooly, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and attended St. Ursula School in Parkville before entering St. Charles College in Catonsville and later St. Mary's Seminary and University in Roland Park.

Ordination and ministry

Malooly was ordained to the priesthood by his uncle, Bishop Thomas Austin Murphy, on May 9, 1970, in the parish church of St. Ursula, and then did pastoral work in Texas, Maryland and Baltimore.

Malooly was Associate Administrator, and later Administrator, of the CYO Retreat House in Sparks, Maryland from 1981 to 1984. He was then made Director of Clergy Personnel (1984) and chancellor and vicar general (1989) for the Archdiocese of Baltimore. In 1990, he was raised to the rank of an Honorary Prelate of His Holiness. In April 1999, he was awarded the President's Medal by St. Mary's Seminary and University.

Auxiliary Bishop of Baltimore, Maryland

On December 12, 2000, Malooly was appointed auxiliary bishop of Baltimore and Titular Bishop of Flumenzer by Pope John Paul II. He received his episcopal consecration on March 1, 2001 from William Cardinal Keeler, with Archbishop William Borders and Bishop William Newman serving as co-consecrators, in the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen.

In addition to his role as an auxiliary, Malooly was later named Western Vicar of the archdiocese, serving the thirty-eight parishes and six missions in Allegany, Carroll, Frederick, Garrett, Howard, and Washington counties.

In 2006, the Bishop received the Cardinal Shehan Award from the Archdiocesan Youth Office, an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters from Mount Saint Mary's University in Emmitsburg. He is also a member of the Knights of Malta, and of the Board of Trustees of Good Samaritan Hospital, St. Mary's Seminary and University, and Mount Saint Mary's University.

Bishop of Wilmington, Delaware

On July 7, 2008, Bishop Malooly was appointed Bishop of Wilmington. He was installed in that office on the following September 8.

In October 2009, Malooly sought Chapter 11 protection for his diocese after obtaining financial settlements with victims of local child abusing priests.^[1]

Bishop Malooly has also been repeatedly criticized by certain Catholics and some Catholic news outlets for refusing to withhold Communion to Vice President Joseph Biden as stipulated by canon 915 in the Catholic Church's canon law.^[2] According to an AP report, he had agreed to discuss Catholic teaching with Biden, but never mentioned the issue of the reception of Communion. Conservative news outlets such as Lifesite News and the mainstream Catholic news site CNS News attempted to contacted Malooly over the incident, but the bishop failed to answer.^[3] However, Commonweal Magazine had commended the bishop for taking such an approach to this matter.^[4]