William Francis Malooly

William Francis Malooly (born January 18, 1944) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Malooly served as the bishop of the Diocese of Wilmington in Delaware from 2008 until 2021. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Baltimore in Maryland from 2000 to 2008.

Biography

Early life and education Francis Malooly was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on January 18, 1944. He attended St. Ursula School in Parkville, Maryland, then entered St. Charles College in Catonsville, Maryland, for his secondary and undergraduate education. Malooly received his seminary training at St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore

Priesthood Malooly was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Baltimore by his uncle, Bishop Thomas Murphy, on May 9, 1970, in the parish church of St. Ursula

Malooly was criticized by some Catholic news outlets for refusing to withhold communion from then U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden due to his position on abortion rights for women. On September 25, 2008, Malooly made this comment on the issue:...I do not intend to get drawn into partisan politics nor do I intend to politicize the Eucharist as a way of communicating Catholic Church teaching, It is critical to keep the lines of communication open if the church is going to make her teachings understood and, please God, accepted.

In 2017, Netflix released the documentary series The Keepers, an investigation into the 1969 murder of Sister Catherine Cesnik in Baltimore. In 1994, Malooly met with Charles Franz and his mother Denise Franz to discuss their allegations of sexual abuse by Joseph Maskell, a diocese priest, against Charles Franz when he was a minor. In that meeting, Denise Franz said that she had reported Maskell to the archdiocese in 1967. The documentary claims that Malooly falsely denied that claim during the meeting. In an official response, Malooly said he told the Franzes that the archdiocese had no record of that 1967 report on Maskell.

The Keepers also charged that the archdiocese, aware of accusations against Maskell, still allowed him to work at Seton Keough Catholic school from 1968 to 1975, where he abused several dozen children In his statement, Malooly said that he first heard allegations against Maskell in 1992, when Malooly was chancellor of the archdiocese. At that time, the archdiocese removed Maskell from ministry, sent him for treatment and started an investigation. He returned to ministry in 1993 after the archdiocese failed to substantiate the charges against him

Retirement On Friday, April 30, 2021, Pope Francis accepted Malooly's resignation as bishop of the Diocese of Wilmington, which Malooly had submitted on his 75th Birthday. The pope appointed Monsignor William Koenig as Malooly's successor.