Notre Dame de la Mer Parish, North Wildwood, New Jersey;
The Wildwoods and Diamond Beach have had a very strong Roman Catholic presence on the island for many generations. For the last couple generations, there have been two parishes serving the island; Saint Ann and Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
In April 2008, Bishop Galante announced that the two parishes in the Wildwoods would be merged as one parish. Originally, the bishop indicated that Assumption would be a summer worship site. The Assumption Parish asked the bishop to reconsider and the bishop announced the merged parish would have two year-round worship sites.
Several names were submitted to the bishop after an evening of voting. Bishop Galante determined that Notre Dame de la Mer Parish – Our Lady of the Sea – would be the name.
