The Catholic Diocese of Wilmington encompasses Delaware and Maryland’s Eastern Shore, with 57 parishes and 29 schools.
The Most Rev. William E. Koenig, the bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington, has issued a pastoral letter calling on families, parishes and all people of goodwill in Maryland and Delaware to urge their governors to opt in to the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit — a provision of the “Big Beautiful Bill” passed by Congress in July 2025. Neither Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland nor Gov. Matt Meyer of Delaware has decided whether their states will participate — and the deadline for both is Dec. 31.
In the pastoral letter, Bishop Koenig references Pope Leo XIV’s 2025 apostolic letter, “Drawing New Maps of Hope,” in which Pope Leo writes of the intentionality and co-responsibility required in the educational alliance between students, families, school administrators, teachers and community members. Bishop Koenig states: “May we together work to support both public and non-public school families and students. May we come together and work to ensure that every child in Maryland and Delaware has access to the educational resources their flourishing requires. And may we take a step towards this by opting in to the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit program.”
Joining Bishop Koenig in the call for action, Dr. Louis P. De Angelo, the superintendent of Catholic schools for the Diocese of Wilmington, noted: “It is my sincere hope that families and community members across the Diocese of Wilmington will join us in the effort to urge the governors of Maryland and Delaware to take this significant step toward improving education access in our states. As a lifelong educator I see each day the gaps left by budget shortfalls or financial needs of students, the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit program can go a long way toward filling those gaps.”
The program creates a scholarship fund for families through a system of tax credits for businesses and individuals who donate to approved scholarship-granting organizations. Those organizations award scholarships to eligible families for a wide range of educational expenses. Federal guidelines note that a student is eligible for the program if his or her household income is within approximately 300% of the area median income. The program allows state residents to receive federal tax credits of up to $1,700 for donations made to approved scholarship-granting organizations, which then fund educational assistance for K-12 students in both public and private schools.
The complete pastoral letter and additional resources for families and community members to learn about the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit can be found at cdow.org.
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