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, the first high school in Delaware to be racially integrated, from the involvement in the diocese of American saints John Neumann and Elizabeth Ann Seton to a variety of religious orders and organizations, these honored institutions and remarkable individuals helped to shape the minds and spirits of young and old alike The story of the Diocese of Wilmington, which split off from the Diocese of Philadelphia in 1868, is not just one of church construction dates--it is the story of its people. From the colorful settlement of French exiled after a slave rebellion in Haiti to the New World immigrants of Irish, German, Italian, Polish, and later, Hispanic descent, the Catholic community in the region has been diverse, vibrant, and steadfast in a shared faith. From its humble beginnings, the diocese has grown to serve a population of more than 190,000 members with 56 parishes, 20 missions, and 37 schools and has fostered a strong civic tradition in athletics, theater, and community festivals.

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, the first high school in Delaware to be racially integrated, from the involvement in the diocese of American saints John Neumann and Elizabeth Ann Seton to a variety of religious orders and organizations, these honored institutions and remarkable individuals helped to shape the minds and spirits of young and old alike The story of the Diocese of Wilmington, which split off from the Diocese of Philadelphia in 1868, is not just one of church construction dates--it is the story of its people. From the colorful settlement of French exiled after a slave rebellion in Haiti to the New World immigrants of Irish, German, Italian, Polish, and later, Hispanic descent, the Catholic community in the region has been diverse, vibrant, and steadfast in a shared faith. From its humble beginnings, the diocese has grown to serve a population of more than 190,000 members with 56 parishes, 20 missions, and 37 schools and has fostered a strong civic tradition in athletics, theater, and community festivals.

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, the first high school in Delaware to be racially integrated, from the involvement in the diocese of American saints John Neumann and Elizabeth Ann Seton to a variety of religious orders and organizations, these honored institutions and remarkable individuals helped to shape the minds and spirits of young and old alike The story of the Diocese of Wilmington, which split off from the Diocese of Philadelphia in 1868, is not just one of church construction dates--it is the story of its people. From the colorful settlement of French exiled after a slave rebellion in Haiti to the New World immigrants of Irish, German, Italian, Polish, and later, Hispanic descent, the Catholic community in the region has been diverse, vibrant, and steadfast in a shared faith. From its humble beginnings, the diocese has grown to serve a population of more than 190,000 members with 56 parishes, 20 missions, and 37 schools and has fostered a strong civic tradition in athletics, theater, and community festivals.

Biographical sketches and portraits of the priests of the Diocese of Wilmington, Delaware, from its establishment in 1868 to the present.

Because the Internet has changed and is changing the ways in which we think and act, it must also be changing the ways in which we think Christianity and its theology. Cybertheology is the first book to explore this process from a Catholic point of view. Drawing on the theoretical work of authors such as Marshall McLuhan, Peter Levy, and Teilhard de Chardin, it questions how technologies redefine not only the ways in which we do things but also our being and therefore the way we perceive reality, the world, others, and God. “Does the digital revolution affect faith in any sense?” Spadaro asks. His answer is an emphatic Yes. But how, then, are we to live well in the age of the Internet? Spadaro delves deeply into various dimensions of the impact of the Net on the Church and its organization, on our understanding of revelation, grace, liturgy, the sacraments, and other classical theological themes. He rightly points out that the digital environment is not merely an external instrument that facilitates human communication or a purely virtual world, but part of the daily experience of many people, a new “anthropological space” that is reshaping the way we think, know, and express ourselves. Naturally, this calls for a new understanding of faith so that it makes sense to people who live and work in the digital media environment. In developing the notion of cybertheology, Spadaro seeks to propose an intelligence of faith (intellectus fidei) in the era of the Internet. The book’s chapters include reflections on man the decoder and the search engines of God, networked existence and the mystical body, hacker ethics and Christian vision, sacraments and “virtual presence,” and the theological challenges of collective intelligence.