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Archdiocese of Baltimore

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Archdiocese of Baltimore
Archidiœcesis Baltimorensis
Catholic
Coat of arms
Coat of arms
Location
Country United States
Territory The city of Baltimore and nine counties in central and western Maryland
Ecclesiastical province Baltimore
Statistics
Area 12,340 km2 (4,760 sq mi)
Population
Total
Catholics 		(as of 2023)
3,368,757
512,500 (15.2%)
Parishes 137
Information
Denomination Catholic
Sui iuris church Latin Church
Rite Roman Rite
Established November 6, 1789
Cathedral Cathedral of Mary Our Queen
Patron saint Immaculate Conception
St. Ignatius of Loyola[1]
Current leadership
Pope Leo XIV
Archbishop William E. Lori
Auxiliary Bishops Adam J. Parker
Episcopal Vicars Adam Parker
Bishops emeritus Edwin Frederick O'Brien
Denis J. Madden
Map
Website
www.archbalt.org

The Archdiocese of Baltimore (Latin: Archidiœcesis Baltimorensis) is the archdiocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in northern and western Maryland in the United States. It is the metropolitan see of the Ecclesiastical Province of Baltimore.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore is the oldest diocese and oldest archdiocese in the United States. Soon after the American Revolution, the diocese was erected to cover the United States, before the establishment of additional dioceses. The Vatican granted the archbishop of Baltimore the right of precedence in the nation at liturgies, meetings, and Plenary Councils in 1859.[2] It is the premier episcopal see of the Catholic Church in the United States of America, as "prerogative of place".

As of 2020, the archdiocese had an estimated Catholic population of 525,000 with 198 diocesan priests, 193 religious priests and 169 permanent deacons in 139 parishes.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore has two major seminaries: St. Mary's Seminary and University in Baltimore and Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg.[3][4]

It was revealed in late 2016 that the Archdiocese of Baltimore had paid off numerous settlements since 2011 for abuse victims.[5]

Territory

The Archdiocese of Baltimore comprises the City of Baltimore and nine Maryland counties: Allegany, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Frederick, Garrett, Harford, Howard, and Washington.

History

1600 to 1700

The first Catholic presence in the original British colonies in the United States was the proprietary colony of Maryland, established by Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore in 1634. A Catholic himself, Calvert intended the colony to be open to English Catholics facing persecution at home.

In 1689, members of the growing Puritan population in Maryland staged a takeover of the colonial government and effectively outlawed Catholicism.[6][7] In 1691, alarmed at the violent conflicts in Maryland, the British Crown took over the colony from the Calvert family.

1700 to 1789

The new royal governor in Maryland imposed less sweeping restrictions on Catholics than those of the Puritan regime. These restrictions would stay in place until after the end of the American Revolution.

During the British colonial period, the small Catholic communities in the American colonies were under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Apostolic Vicariate of the London District in England.[8] The first Catholic church in Baltimore, St. Peter's, was dedicated in 1770.[9]

In November 1783, after the end of the Revolution, the Catholic clergy in Maryland petitioned the Vatican for permission to nominate a priest as superior of the missions for the United States. The superior would have some of the powers of a bishop and be in charge of the American Catholic Church. After receiving papal approval, the clergy nominated Reverend John Carroll to become superior. Pope Pius VI in June 1784 confirmed Carroll as superior of the missions. This papal act established an American hierarchy, removing the American Catholic Church from the authority of the British Catholic Church

In November 1784, Pius VI erected the Prefecture Apostolic of the United States encompassing the entire country. Since Maryland had the largest Catholic population, Pope Pius VI placed the prefecture see in Baltimore and appointed Carroll as its first prefect apostolic.

1789 to 1800

Four years later, Pius VI elevated the prefecture into the Diocese of Baltimore, making it the first diocese solely within the United States.[10] St. Peter's, the only Catholic church in Baltimore, was designated as the pro-cathedral (temporary cathedral). The new Diocese of Baltimore covered the entire nation.

To train priests for his new diocese, Carroll asked the Fathers of the Company of Saint Sulpice to come to Baltimore. They arrived in 1791 and started the nucleus of St. Mary's College and Seminary in that city.[11] Also in 1791, Carroll convened the first diocesan synod in the United States. Twenty-two priests attended the synod, setting national policies for baptism, confirmation, penance, the celebration of the liturgy in the mass, anointing of the sick, and mixed marriages.[12]

The Vatican in 1795 appointed Reverend Leonard Neale as coadjutor bishop in Baltimore to assist Carroll.[13] In 1798, Carroll won a civil case in Pennsylvania that acknowledged his position as leader of the American church.[11] Carroll gave his approval to the founding of the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary, who in 1799 established Visitation Academy in Georgetown.[14][15]

1800 to 1821

Carroll ordained the first American-born Catholic priest, Reverend William Matthews, at St. Peter's Pro-Cathedral in Baltimore in 1800.[16] In 1806, Carroll started construction of the Cathedral of the Assumption in Baltimore[17] As the Catholic population of the United States grew, the Vatican saw the need to create more dioceses. In 1808, Pope Pius VII erected four new dioceses from what now became the Archdiocese of Baltimore. The pope named Carroll as the first archbishop of Baltimore.[10]

Name of new diocese Territory taken from archdiocese in 1808
Diocese of Boston Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Vermont
Diocese of New York State of New York and seven counties from New Jersey
Diocese of Philadelphia Pennsylvania, Delaware, and seven counties from New Jersey
Diocese of Bardstown Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, and the Old Northwest Territory

After Carroll died in 1815, Neale automatically succeeded him as archbishop of Baltimore. However, due to Neale's bad health, Pope Pius VII in 1816 appointed Reverend Ambrose Maréchal as coadjutor archbishop. When Neale died in 1817, Maréchal succeeded him as archbishop of Baltimore.[13][18]

Maréchal believed that his most pressing problem was a shortage of priests. It was aggravated by parish trustees who thought they had the power to assign these priests.[19] In some Irish parishes, the trustees would demand Irish priests, even if they were not qualified.[20] In 1820, Bishop Flaget of Bardstown warned Maréchal about a man claiming to be a priest who wanted to practice in the archdiocese. This individual produced positive letters of introduction from his bishop. However, when he was observed celebrating mass, it became clear that the so-called priest was incompetent. Maréchal later advised the Propaganda Fide (now the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples) in Rome about this problem.[21]

1821 to 1850

Maréchal dedicated the incomplete Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Cathedral in May 1821.[18] Later in 1821, Maréchal went to Rome on archdiocese business. One problem he had faced in Maryland was the disputed ownership of the White Marsh plantation in Bowie. The Order of Jesus had received the plantation as a gift in 1728 and claimed it as their property. Maréchal said that the plantation actually belonged to the archdiocese. The Vatican gave the archdiocese ownership of White Marsh.[22][18]

On January 8, 1828, Reverend James Whitfield of Baltimore was appointed coadjutor archbishop of the archdiocese by Pope Leo XII. Before Whitfield could be consecrated as coadjutor, Maréchal died on January 29, 1828. Whitfield was finally consecrated as archbishop in June 1828.[23] He convened a synod for the diocesan clergy in 1831 and the Second Provincial Council of Baltimore in 1833.[24] Throughout his tenure, Whitfield worked for the welfare of the African American community.[24] He authorized the foundation of the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the first religious order of African-American women in the United States. Whitfield talked about how he would have liked to evangelize the hundreds of thousands of enslaved African-Americans in Virginia.[25]

Pope Gregory XVI in March 1834 appointed Reverend Samuel Eccleston as coadjutor archbishop to assist Whitfield. When Whitfield died in October 1834, Eccleston automatically succeeded him as archbishop.[26] Eccleston encouraged religious orders to establish mother houses in his diocese, particularly those orders that could provide social services to the growing number of Catholic immigrants in the industrializing cities. The Sisters of the Visitation increased the number of their academies in the city and the archdiocese, the Brothers of St. Patrick opened a trade school near Baltimore, and the Redemptorists provided services for German-speaking immigrants. The Brothers of the Christian Schools founded Calvert Hall School in 1845 in Baltimore.

In 1847, Eccleston was planning to disband the Oblate Sisters of Providence, but was dissuaded by Redemptorist Father Thaddeus Anwander.[27] St. Charles College was established in 1848 in Howard County on land donated by the planter Charles Carroll.[28] Between 1837 and 1849, Eccleston held five provincial councils in Baltimore.[29] He also started several new parishes during his administration.[30] Eccleston died in 1851.

1850 to 1866

The Vatican continued to erect new dioceses and vicariates out of the Archdiocese of Baltimore through the 19th century as the church evolved and grew in the United States.[31]

Name of new diocese Date of new diocese Territory taken from archdiocese
Diocese of Charleston 1820 North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia
Diocese of Richmond 1820 Most of Virginia
Vicariate Apostolic of Mississippi and Alabama 1822 Mississippi and Alabama
Vicariate Apostolic of the Oregon Territory[31] 1843 From California to Alaska and from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean
Diocese of Richmond 1858 Alexandria, Virginia
Diocese of Wilmington 1868 Maryland eastern shore and the remaining Virginia counties

Following the death of Eccleston, Bishop Francis Kenrick of Philadelphia was named the sixth archbishop of Baltimore by Pope Pius IX in 1851.[32] He presided over the First Plenary Council of Baltimore in 1852.[33] As archbishop, Kenrick expanded parochial schools throughout the archdiocese. Under his tenure, parochial schools were free for all students, and were supported directly by the parishes.[34] Kenrick died in 1863. The next archbishop of Baltimore was Bishop Martin Spalding from the Diocese of Louisville, appointed by Pope Pius IX.[35]

1866 to 1900

In 1866, Spalding founded St. Mary's Industrial School in Baltimore, a boys reformatory.[36][37] Spalding conducted a visitation of the archdiocese, during which he reportedly administered confirmation to 8,000 people.[38] Spalding recruited priests for the archdiocese from All Hallows College in Ireland and the American College at Louvain in Belgium[30] He also organized the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul as well as the Association of St. Joseph, a society for the care of impoverished girls.[39]

After the end of the American Civil War in 1865, Spalding raised $10,000 in the archdiocese for relief efforts in the former Confederate States of America. He also took a special interest in the spiritual welfare of the African-Americans who had just been freed from slavery. Writing to Archbishop John McCloskey, Spalding said, "Four million of these unfortunates are thrown on our charity, and they silently but eloquently appeal to us for help."[36] He invited Reverend Herbert Vaughan and the Mill Hill Fathers from England to minister exclusively among freedmen. In October 1866, Spalding presided over the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore.[39][40]

After Spalding died in 1871, Pius IX appointed bishop James Bayley from the Diocese of Newark as the next archbishop of Baltimore in 1872.[41] He convened the Eighth Provincial Synod in 1875 and enacted new regulations on clerical dress, mixed marriages, and church music. Bayley consecrated the cathedral in 1876 and retired a large amount of archdiocesan debt. In May 1877, Pius IX selected Bishop James Gibbons of Richmond as coadjutor archbishop to assist the sick Bayley. After Bayley died in October 1877, Gibbons succeeded him as archbishop of Baltimore.[42] In 1884, Gibbons founded the House of the Good Shepherd in Baltimore, a reformatory for female criminals.[43]

1900 to 1940

After the end of World War I in 1919, Gibbons supported American participation in the new League of Nations. He was initially opposed to the women's suffrage movement in the United States. However, when the nineteenth amendment to the US Constitution passed in 1920, allowing women to vote, Gibbons urged women to exercise that right, describing it "...not only as a right but as a strict social duty."[44] Gibbons died in 1921

Bishop Michael Curley of the Diocese of Saint Augustine was the next archbishop of Baltimore, named by Pope Benedict XV in 1921.[45] His arrival in his new city was described in the press as "one of the greatest welcomes ever tendered a new citizen of Baltimore."[46] During his tenure in Baltimore, Curley established 66 schools, placing the importance of constructing schools over churches.[47] In 1926, he declared, "I defy any system of grammar school education in the United States to prove itself superior to the system that is being maintained in the Archdiocese of Baltimore."[48] He also established diocesan offices for Catholic Charities in 1923 and for the Society for the Propagation of the Faith in 1925.[48]

In 1939, Pope Pius XII erected the Archdiocese of Washington, taking the District of Columbia and five nearby Maryland counties from the Archdiocese of Baltimore.[49] The pope selected Curley to serve as archbishop of Washington. The two archdioceses now shared the same archbishop.[50] Curley used the title of Archbishop of Baltimore-Washington during this period, although the two archdioceses were separate entities.[51]

1940 to 1989

After Curley died in 1947, Pius XII appointed Monsignor Patrick A. O'Boyle as archbishop of Washington and Bishop Francis Keough of the Diocese of Providence as archbishop of Baltimore.[49][50] During the 14 years of Keough's administration, the Catholic population of the archdiocese grew from 265,000 to 400,000. Keough dedicated the new Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Baltimore in 1959; he also built many new schools, homes, and orphanages.[52]

In July 1961, Pope John XXIII named Bishop Lawrence Shehan of the Diocese of Bridgeport to assist Keough as coadjutor archbishop. When Keough died in December 1961, Shehan automatically succeeded him as archbishop of Baltimore.[53] Shehan was a strong supporter of the American Civil Rights movement. He banned racial segregation in all of the archdiocesan institutions in 1962[54] and participated in the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.[55] Shehan also maintained good relations with the Jewish and Eastern Orthodox communities in the archdiocese.[55] Shehan worked with his friend Harry Lee Doll, Episcopal Bishop of Maryland, on both civil rights and ecumenical issues. Along with the president of St. Mary's Seminary and University, Shehan and Doll in 1968 founded the Ecumenical Institute at St. Mary's.[56]

Following Shehan's retirement in 1974, Pope Paul VI named Bishop William Borders of the Diocese of Orlando as the 13th archbishop of Baltimore that same year.[57]

During his 15-year tenure in Baltimore, Borders divided the archdiocese into three vicariates and appointed his auxiliary bishops as vicars over them. He reorganized the Archdiocesan Central Services, naming cabinet-level secretaries to carry out the administrative work of the archdiocese.[58] Borders clarified and strengthened the role of the archdiocesan pastoral council, and combined the board of consultors and the priests senate to form the priests' council.[59] He initiated a Department of Pastoral Planning and Management, an Office of Fund Development and an evangelization effort.[58] Instead of residing at an apartment at the Basilica of the Assumption, Borders lived alone at the former sexton's lodge.[60][61] Borders became what Baltimore Magazine called the "king of the soup kitchens". While he was archbishop, the budget for Catholic Charities grew from $2.5 million a year to $33 million a year, and its staff expanded from 200 to over 1,000.[62] Borders retired in 1989.

1989 to present

Pope John Paul II appointed Bishop William H. Keeler from the Diocese of Harrisburg as the next archbishop of Baltimore in 1989.[63] Keeler was responsible for the restoration of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.[64]

After Keeler retired in 2006, John Paul II replaced him with Archbishop Edwin O'Brien from the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA.[65] In 2008, O'Brien dedicated the Pope John Paul II Prayer Garden in Baltimore, which he called a "sanctuary in a suffering city."[66] In 2011, he became grand master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem in Rome.

In 2012, Bishop William E. Lori of Bridgeport was appointed archbishop of Baltimore by Pope Benedict XVI. In 2019, Lori released The Journey to Racial Justice: Repentance, Healing and Action. The document acknowledged racism in the Catholic Church and suggested measures to combat it. That same year, Lori instituted an initiative for reporting allegations against any bishop in the archdiocese. The policy was drafted by the archdiocesan independent review board.

As of 2026, Lori is the current archbishop of Baltimore.

Plenary councils of Baltimore

The Plenary Councils of Baltimore were three national meetings of American Catholic bishops in the 19th century.

  • First Plenary Council (1852) – The First Council published a decree requiring priests immigrating to the United States to provide letters of reference from their previous bishops before they could practise ministry in this country. The council also passed a requirement that Catholic engaged couples publish marriage banns.
  • Second Plenary Council (1866) – The Second Council advocated the churching of women, a ceremony blessing women after childbirth, and setting age 10 as the age for first communion.
  • Third Plenary Council (1884) – The Third Council set six holy days of obligation for Catholics and appointed a commission to draft a catechism.

Sexual abuse

In July 1995, John Merzbacher, a teacher at Catholic Community Middle School in south Baltimore, received four life sentences after being convicted of raping Elizabeth Ann Murphy at the school in the 1970s.[67] At the time, prosecutors also found evidence that Merzbacher sexually abused 13 other male and female students when he taught there.[68][67] Merzbacher died in prison in May 2023.[68]

In 2016, the archdiocese confirmed that it had paid a total of $472,000 to settlements to 16 former students of Archbishop Keough High School. The plaintiffs claimed to have been sexually abused as children by Reverend A. Joseph Maskell from 1967 to 1975.[69] After the archdiocese removed Maskell from ministry in 1994, he fled to Ireland.[70] He was never charged with any crimes."[71]

The archdiocese was featured in the 2017 Netflix documentary The Keepers, which investigated sexual abuse by clergy at Archbishop Keough High School and the murder of Sister Catherine Cesnik in 1969.

A report released by Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro in August 2018 singled out Cardinal William Keeler for criticism. When Keeler was archbishop of Baltimore, he allowed Reverend Arthur Long to transfer from the Diocese of Harrisburg to the Archdiocese of Baltimore.[72] Long had been accused of sexually abusing children during his time in Harrisburg when Keeler was bishop there.[72][73] After the grand jury report was released, the archdiocese canceled plans to name a new elementary school after Keeler.[74]

In February 2019, Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh launched an investigation into sexual abuse allegations against the archdiocese.[75] Archbishop Lori provided Frosh with over 50,000 pages of internal documents dating back to 1965.[76]

In March 2019, Lori banned former Auxiliary Bishop Gordon Bennett, then residing in the archdiocese, from practicing any form of ministry in the archdiocese or the suffragan Diocese of Wheeling–Charleston. Bennett had been accused of sexual abuse in 2006.[77] In April 2019, the archdiocese added the names of 23 deceased clergy to a list of accused clergy which the archdiocese published in 2002.[78][79] Long, a Jesuit, was among those added to the list.[78][79]

The State of Maryland investigation concluded in November 2022,[80] and its report was released in April 2023.[81] The report named 156 archdiocesan employees and clergy as having credible accusations of sexually abusing more than 600 children between 1940 and 2002.[82] At the same time as the release of the report, the Maryland General Assembly passed a bill to end a statute of limitations on abuse-related civil lawsuits.[83] This bill was signed into law by Governor Wes Moore in April 2023.[84]

On September 29, 2023, the Archdiocese of Baltimore filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to evade large anticipated financial losses in upcoming lawsuits permitted by the Maryland Child Victims Act starting on October 1.[85]

Episcopate

Prerogative of place

In 1858, the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith (Propaganda Fide), with the approval of Pius IX, conferred "Prerogative of Place" on the Archdiocese of Baltimore. This decree gave the archbishop of Baltimore precedence over all other American archbishops in councils, gatherings, and meetings. It did not matter if another archbishop had been elevated sooner or had been serving long. However, a cardinal still had precedence over the archbishop of Baltimore.[15]

Cathedrals

The first cathedral for the archdiocese was St. Peter's Pro-Cathedral, which is no longer standing. Today, like only a few other archdioceses in the United States, the Archdiocese of Baltimore has two cathedrals, both in Baltimore: the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen and the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.[86] The archbishop is considered the pastor of both co-cathedrals, appointing rectors to operate them.

St. Peter's Pro-Cathedral

St. Peters served as the base for the archbishop of Baltimore from 1790 to 1821. Since it never met the physical criteria for a proper cathedral and was always considered temporary, St. Peter's was termed a pro-cathedral. The building was razed in 1841.

Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was constructed between 1806 and 1821. It was the first cathedral in the newly independent United States and is considered the mother church of the country. It is a co-cathedral of the archdiocese.

Cathedral of Mary Our Queen

Mary Our Queen was started in 1954 and completed in 1959. It is a co-cathedral of the archdiocese.

Bishops

Prefect Apostolic of the United States

John Carroll (1784–1789), appointed first diocesan bishop with erection of diocese[87]

Bishop of Baltimore

  1. John Carroll (1789–1808), elevated to Archbishop[87]

Archbishops of Baltimore

  1. John Carroll (1808–1815)
  2. Leonard Neale (1815–1817; coadjutor archbishop 1795–1815)
  3. Ambrose Maréchal (1817–1828)
  4. James Whitfield (1828–1834; coadjutor archbishop 1828)
  5. Samuel Eccleston (1834–1851; coadjutor archbishop 1834)
  6. Francis Patrick Kenrick (1851–1863)
  7. Martin John Spalding (1864–1872)
  8. James Roosevelt Bayley (1872–1877)
  9. James Gibbons (1877–1921) (Cardinal in 1886)
  10. Michael Joseph Curley (1921–1947)
  11. Francis Patrick Keough (1948–1961)
  12. Lawrence Shehan (1961–1974; coadjutor archbishop 1961) (Cardinal in 1965)
  13. William Donald Borders (1974–1989)
  14. William Henry Keeler (1989–2007) (Cardinal in 1994)
  15. Edwin Frederick O'Brien (2007–2012), appointed Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre (Cardinal in 2012)
  16. William Edward Lori (2012–present)[87]

Current auxiliary bishops

  • Adam J. Parker (2017–present)

Former auxiliary bishops

Other diocesan priests who became bishops

Priests appointed, but never ordained, as bishops

Dominic Laurence Grässel appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of Baltimore in 1793 but the notice arrived after his death

Notable individuals

  • Sister Elizabeth Ann Seton - Seton founded the first American congregation of religious sisters, the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph, in Emmitsburg, Maryland, in 1809. A year later, she opened the first free Catholic school for girls in the United States.[89] In 1975, Seton became the first American-born person to be canonized a saint.
  • Mother Mary Lange - Lange opened a free school in her Baltimore home for African American children who were denied access to other schools in the city. In 1828, Lange founded the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the first sustained religious order for African American women in the United States. She also opened what would later become St. Frances Academy, the first Catholic School for African-American children in the United States. In 1991, the Catholic Church opened a cause of sainthood for Lange, naming her a "servant of God."[90]

Education

As of 2023, the Archdiocese of Baltimore had 40 elementary and middle schools and 18 high schools with a total student enrollment of approximately 24,000.[91]

High schools

School Location Gender Diocesan or independent
Archbishop Curley High School Baltimore Boys Diocesan
Archbishop Spalding High School Severn Coed Diocesan
Bishop Walsh School Cumberland Coed Diocesan
Calvert Hall College Baltimore / Towson Boys Independent
Cristo Rey Jesuit High School Baltimore Coed Independent
Loyola Blakefield Baltimore / Towson Boys Independent
Maryvale Preparatory School Brooklandville Girls Independent
Mercy High School Baltimore Girls Independent
Mount de Sales Academy Baltimore / Catonsville Girls Independent
Mount Saint Joseph College Baltimore / Irvington Boys Independent
Notre Dame Preparatory School Baltimore / Towson Girls Independent
Our Lady of Mount Carmel High School Baltimore Coed Diocesan
St. Frances Academy Baltimore Coed Diocesan
St. John's Catholic Preparatory Buckeystown/ Frederick County Coed Independent
St. Mary's High School Annapolis Coed Parish
The Catholic High School of Baltimore Baltimore Girls Independent
The John Carroll School Bel Air Coed Independent

Churches

Media

The archdiocese began to publish its diocesan newspaper, The Baltimore Catholic Review in 1913 as the successor to the earlier diocesan publication The Catholic Mirror, published 1833 to 1908. The name has since been shortened to The Catholic Review. It changed from weekly to biweekly publication in 2012 and transformed again to a monthly magazine in December 2015.[94]

Ecclesiastical province

When the Archdiocese of Baltimore was erected in 1808, its ecclesiastical province covered the entire nation. In 1847, with the erected of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, the ecclesiastical province of Baltimore shrank.[15] It shrank again with the creation of the Archdioceses of Cincinnati, New Orleans, New York, and the Portland in Oregon in 1850. The province currently contains the following suffragan dioceses:

See also

  • Historical list of the Catholic bishops of the United States
  • List of the Catholic dioceses of the United States
  • List of Roman Catholic archdioceses (by country and continent)
  • List of Roman Catholic dioceses (alphabetical) (including archdioceses)
  • List of Roman Catholic dioceses (structured view) (including archdioceses)
  • List of shrines
  • The Keepers relevant media appearances

Canonical status and jurisdiction

Archdiocese of Baltimore is a metropolitan archdiocese of the Catholic Church.[95]

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

Archdiocese of Baltimore — The senior see of the United States of America, established as a diocese 6 April, 1789; as an archdiocese 8 April, 1808; embraces all that part of the State of Maryland west of the Chesapeake Bay (6,442 square miles) including also the District of Columbia (64 square miles), making in all 6,502 square miles. The entire population of this area is about 1,273,000. The Catholics numbering 255,000, are principally of English, Irish, and German descent. There are also Polish, Lithuanian, Bohemian, and Italian congregations, and six churches exclusively for black people, four in Baltimore, two in Washington. (See WASHINGTON and DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.)

I. Colonial Period

(a) Politico-Religious Beginnings

Catholic Maryland, the first colony in the New World where religious toleration was established, was planned by George Calvert (first Lord Baltimore), a Catholic convert; founded by his son Cecilius Calvert (second Lord Baltimore), and named for a Catholic queen, Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I of England. Except for the period of Ingle's Rebellion (1645-47) its government was controlled by Catholics from the landing of the first colony under Leonard Calvert (25 March, 1634) until after 1649, when the Assembly passed the famous act of religious toleration. The first three Lords Baltimore, George, Cecilius, and Charles, were Catholics. The last three, Benedict Leonard, Charles, and Frederick, were Protestants. Puritans who had been given an asylum in Maryland rebelled and seised the government (165868) and Catholics were excluded from the administration of the province and restrained in the exercise of their faith. When Lord Baltimore again obtained control (1658), religious liberty was restored until 1692.

Taking advantage of Protestant disturbance in the colony, William of Orange, King of England, declared the Proprietary's claim forfeited, made Maryland a royal province, and sent over Copley, the first royal governor (1692). The Anglican Church was then made the established church of Maryland, every colonist being taxed for its support. In 1702, religious liberty was extended to all Christians except Catholics. Catholics were forbidden (1704) to instruct their children in their religion or to send them out of the colony for such instruction (1715). Priests were forbidden to exercise their functions and Catholic children could be taken from a Catholic parent. Appealed to by Catholics, Queen Anne intervened and the clergy were permitted to perform their duties in the chapels of private families (9 December, 1704). Thus originated the manor chapels, and the so-called "Priests' Mass-Houses" The apostasy of Benedict Leonard Calvert (1713) was a, cruel blow to the persecuted Catholics. In 1716 an oath was exacted of office-holders renouncing their belief in Transubstantiation. An act disfranchising Catholics followed (1718). Charles Carroll, father of the Signer, went to France (1752) for the purpose of obtaining a grant of land on the Arkansas River for his persecuted brethren. This plan, however, failed. To exterminate Catholicity an attempt was made to pass a bill confiscating the property of the clergy ( 3 May, I754, Lower House Journal in MSS Maryland Archives). The missionaries, having received land from the Proprietaries upon the same conditions as the other colonists, divided their time between the care of souls and the cultivation of their mission supporting farms. The cutting off of these revenues, would therefore have been disastrous to the Church. Fortunately this attempt did not succeed. Such were the political conditions until the time of the Revolution (Archives Maryland Hist. Sec. Baltimore; Johnson, Foundations of Maryland, Baltimore, 1883; Johnston, Religious Liberty in Maryland and Rhode Island, Catholic Truth Society Publications; Browne, George and Cecilius Calvert, New York, 1890; Hall, The Lords of Baltimore, ibid., 1902).

(b) The First Missionaries

In the first colony brought over by the Ark and the Dove (25 March, 1634) were three Jesuits, Fathers Andrew White and John Althan, and a lay brother, Thomas Gervase (White, Relatio Itineris in Marylandiam, Baltimore ed., 1874; cf. Am. Hist. Review, April 1907 p. 584; Treacy, Old Catholic Maryland, Swedesboro, N.J., 1889; Hughes, Hist. of S.J. in N. America, 1907). The following year another priest and lay brother arrived. Fathers Philip Fisher (real name Thomas Copley) and John Knolles landed in 1637. In 1642, the Roman Congregation of the Propaganda, at Lord Baltimore's request, sent to Maryland two secular priests, Fathers Gilmett and Territt. Two Franciscans arrived in 1673, one of whom was Father Masaeus Massey a Santa Barbara, a truly apostolic man. There were not more than six Franciscans at any time on the missions in Maryland. Their missions ceased with the death of Father Haddock in 1720. In 1716 two Scotch Recollects (Franciscans) came to the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The title "Apostle of Maryland" belongs unquestionably to Father Andrew White, S.J., whose zeal was boundless. During Ingle's Rebellion (1645-47) Fathers White and Fisher were taken in chains to England where the former died. Father Fisher returned to Maryland in 1648, dying in 1653, leaving the Rev. Lawrence Stanley on the mission. Fourteen years after the first colony landed nearly all the natives south of what is now Washington had embraced the Faith, living in peaceful happy intercourse with the settlers. Father White said Mass and baptized the princess of the tribe in his wigwam on the Port Tobacco River. A chapel farther down the stream replaced the wigwam which was in turn succeeded by St. Thomas's Manor church built in 1798 by the Rev. Charles Sewell, S.J. Such was the glorious result of the wisdom and zeal of the first Jesuit missionaries of Maryland (a U. Campbell, in U. S. Cath. Hist. Magazine, Baltimore; Calvert Papers, Maryland Hist. Society, 1889-94; Treacy, op. cit.; The Catholic Cabinet, St. Louie, 1843-45. The Religious Cabinet, Baltimore, 1842)

In accordance with Lord Baltimore's instruction a church was built in the early days at St. Mary's, the capital of the province. William Bretton and his wife, Temperance, in 1661 deeded the ground for the chapel of St. Ignatius and the cemetery at Newtown. Newtown Manor was afterwards purchased by the Jesuits. In 1677 a Catholic college was opened by Father Foster, S.J., and Mr. Thomas Hothersall, a scholastic. In 1697 we finds brick chapel at St. Mary's; frame chapels at St. Inigoes, Newtown, Port Tobacco, Newport; Father Hobart's chapel (Franciscan) near Newport; one on the Boarman estate, and one at Doncaster in Talbot County. During this period (1634-1700) there were about thirty-five Jesuits in the missions of Maryland all of whom with two or three exceptions were English. They were men of apostolic zeal and disinterestedness. The mission at Bohemia, in Cecil County was founded by Father Mansell (1706) the priests of this mission carrying the Faith into Delaware. St. Inigoes house was established in 1708 end later a chapel was added. Hickory Mission, from which Baltimore was afterwards attended, was established in 1720, and St. Joseph's Chapel, Deer Creek (the Rev. John Digges, Jr.), in 1742. We find the Rev. Benedict Neale at Priest's Ford, Harford County, in 1747. St. Ignatius's Church, Hickory, was established (1792) by the Rev. Sylvester Boarman. About 1755, 900 Catholic Acadian refugees settled in Maryland, but the Catholics were forbidden to give them hospitality. Many of them lost the Faith, but some of their descendants still preserve the Faith for which their fathers suffered. An unfinished house in Baltimore (north-west corner of Calvert and Fayette Streets) was used by them as a chapel. A Catholic school was established in Baltimore (1757) by Mary Ann March, but was closed on account of the violent persecution of Protestant clergymen. The historic Whitemarsh mission was founded in 1760 by the Rev. John Lewis. Frederick Chapel (St. John's) was built by Father Williams, S.J.; the church was built in 1800 by the Rev. John Dubois, at that time the only priest between Baltimore and St. Louis. The present church was consecrated in 1837. In 1903 the Jesuits gave up the church and novitiate. The Jesuit novitiate was opened at Georgetown, D.C., 1806. During the War of 1812, it was at St. Inigoes and Frederick for a few years, then returned to Georgetown was removed to Whitemarsh about 1820, and to Frederick in 1833, whence in 1903 it was finally removed to St. Andrews-on-the-Hudson, near Poughkeepsie, New York.

In 1669, the Catholic population numbered 2,000; in 1708 it was 2,979 in a population of 40,000; in 1755 about 7,000. In 1766, the following missions were about 7 attended by Jesuits: St. Inigoes, Newtown, Port Tobacco, Whitemarsh, Deer Creek, Fredericktown, Queenstown, Bohemia and Baltimore. The twenty Jesuits on the Maryland mission at the time of their order's suppression (1773) remained at their posts. The first priest born in Maryland was the Rev. Robert Brooks (1663). His four brothers also became priests. Conspicuous for unselfish zeal at this period was Rev. William Hunter; whilst for over forty years Father George Thorold laboured in Maryland (170043). The clergy was, in general, self-supporting. (Treacy, op. cit.; Extracts from Letters of Missionaries, Baltimore, 1877; Sheet, Life and Times of Archbishop Carroll, New York, 1888.)

(c) The Catholic Colonists

The Catholic population, mostly rural, was generous to the Church and hospitable to the priests. We find many deeds and bequests for ecclesiastical purposes in the early records. Enduring one hundred years of persecution from the Protestants to whom they had offered asylum, proscribed, disfranchised, offered peace and emolument in exchange for apostasy, the Catholics generally continued faithful, and it is inspiring to read the list of Catholic names that survived the dark days, and that are still in evidence on the Catholic roll of honour -- Brent, Lee, Fenwick, Boarman, Sewell, Lowe, Gardiner, Carroll, Neale, Jenkins, Digges, Bowling, Edelin, Matthews, Lancaster, Stonestreet, Boone, Mattingly, Brooks, Hunter, Coombes, Spalding Semmes, Dyer, Jamison, Queen, Hill, Gwynn, Wheeler, Elder, McAtee, Pye Miles, Abell, Camalier, Smith, Plowden, Freeman, Maddox, Greenwell, Floyd, Drury, Mudd, Hamilton, Clark, Payne, Brock, Walton, Doyne, Darnall. During the American Revolution, Catholics, with very rare exceptions, sided with the patriots; Maryland's best Catholic names are to be found on the rolls of the Continental army, both as officers and privates. The most prominent and influential citizens of Maryland during this epoch was Charles Carroll of Carrollton, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. At this time only Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Delaware had removed the disabilities against Catholics. The National Convention (Philadelphia, 1787) granted religious liberty to all. (McSherry, Hist. of Maryland, Baltimore, 1882; Scharf, Hist. of Maryland, Baltimore, 1879.)

II. American Period

Such were the conditions in Maryland when the first bishop was appointed. Speaking of this period in 1790 bishop Carroll said "it is surprising that there remained even so much as there was of true religion. In general Catholics were regular and unoffensive nn their conduct, such, I mean, as were natives of the country" -- but he complains bitterly of the injury to the Faith caused by those Catholics who came to the colony about this time (Shea, Life of Archbishop Carroll, 49). In fact the Church began to recover from this scandal only forty years after. Catholic Americans were subject spiritually to English Catholic superiors (the archpriests), until 6 September, 1665, when Innocent XI appointed Dr. John Leyburn, Vicar-Apostolic of all The British Colonies in America remained jurisdiction of Dr. Leyburn and his successors, Bishops Gifford, Petre, Challoner, and Talbot, until the appointment of Dr. Carroll. After the Revolution it was plain that the United States could not conveniently remain subject in spirituals to a superior in England. A meeting was called at Whitemarsh (27 June, l783) by the Rev. John Lewis, Vicar-General of the Vicar Apostolic of London. This meeting was attended by the Revs. John Carroll, John Ashton, Charles Sewell, Bernard Diderick, Sylvester Boarman, and Leonard Neale. It resulted in a petition asking for the appointment of the Rev. John Lewis as Superior, with quasi-episcopal faculties. At this time the French Minister to the United States schemed to make the missions of the United States subject to France. Benjamin Franklin, United States representative to France, ignorant of the true state of affairs, at first supported this intrigue. Congress, however, informed Franklin that the project was one "without the jurisdiction and power of Congress, who have no authority to permit or refuse it". The American priests then presented a memorial to Pius VI. As a result the appointment of the Rev. John Carroll as Superior of the missions of the United States, with power to administer confirmation, was ratified (9 June, 1784). He received the decree appointing him Prefect Apostolic 26 November, 1784. At this time, there were, according to Dr. Carroll, 15,800 Catholics in Maryland (of whom 3,000 were negreos); 7000 Catholics in Pennsylvania; 200 in Virginia; 1,500 in New York. In 1782 the total population of Maryland was 254,000. There were nineteen priests in Maryland and five in Pennsylvania. Dr. Carroll made his first visitation in Maryland in 1785, and administered confirmation. About this time he took up his residence in Baltimore where the Rev. Charles Sewell was pastor. In 1788, the clergy petitioned Pius VI for the appointment of a bishop. Their request was granted. They were permitted to determine whether the bishop should be merely titular, or should have a see in the United States -- and to choose the place for, as well as to elect the occupant of the see.

Election of Bishop Carroll

Twenty-four priests assembled at Whitemarsh. Twenty-three voted for Dr. Carroll, who was, accordingly, appointed first Bishop of Baltimore, subject to the Roman Congregation of the Propaganda. Dr. Carroll was consecrated in the chapel of Lulworth Castle, England, 15 August, 1790, the consecrator being the Right Rev. Charles Walmesley, Senior Vicar Apostolic of England. Before leaving England, Dr. Carroll arranged with the Sulpician Fathers to establish an ecclesiastical seminary in Baltimore at their own expense. Accordingly, the superior, the Rev. Francis Nagot with three priests and five seminarians arrived at Baltimore in July, 1791. The "One Mile Tavern" and four acres of land were purchased and on 18 July, St. Mary's Seminary was opened.

(a) Progress of Catholicism

The next year the Revs. J.R. David and B.J. Flaget, afterwards Bishops of Bardstown (Louisville), Kentucky, with Mr. Stephen Badin who was the first priest ordained in Baltimore (1793), arrived. In 1787, the Rev. Joseph Mosley died leaving about 600 communicants on the Eastern Shore, where he had laboured twenty-two years. At this time there was only one other priest stationed there. The next, year the veteran John Lewis died, being the last of the original Maryland missions. In 1789 Georgetown College was founded. A frame church was erected at Westminster (1789), succeeded by Christ Church (1805) under the Rev. Joseph Zucchi. In 1791 the Diocese of Baltimore included all the territory east of the Mississippi, except Florida; in this vast territory there mere churches at Baltimore, New York (1785), Boston (1788), Charleston (1785); in Maryland at St. Inigoes, Newtown, Newport, Port Tobacco. Rock Creek, Annapolis, Whitemarsh, Bohemia, Tuckahoe Deer Creek, Frederick, Westminster; in Pennsylvania: at Philadelphia, Lancaster, Conewago, Goshenhoppen; in Delaware, at Coffee Run, also at Vincennes, Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and Prairie du Rocher. In 1790, a Carmelite community was established at Port Tobacco under Mother Frances Dickinson. The nuns remained there until 1831, when twenty-four sisters under Mother Angela Mudd removed to Baltimore. In 1791, the first diocesan synod in the United States was opened at the bishop's house in Baltimore. Twenty-two priests and the bishop were present. At this synod the offertory collections were inaugurated. Between 1791 and 1798 seventeen French arrived, some of whom became famous in the of the United States -- the Revs. John Dubois (1791), Benedict Flaget, J.B. David, Ambrose Maréchal (1792), William DuBourg, and John Moranville (1794), and John Lefevre Cheverus (1796). Until this time the burden of the missions of Maryland had been borne by the Jesuits. From 1700 to 1805 about ninety Jesuits had laboured on the mission, of whom about sixty were English, sixteen Americans, and the rest German, Irish, Welsh, Belgian, and French. They were apostolic men who devoted their lives without earthly reward to the service of others.

In 1792, Catholics in the eastern section of Baltimore, finding it inconvenient to attend the pro-cathedral, asked for a priest and rented a room in the third story of a house, corner of Fleet and Bond Streets, where the first Mass was said by Bishop Carroll. This congregation numbered about twelve persons. The Rev. Antoine Garnier, from St. Mary's Seminary, visited them twice weekly until 17 December, 1795, when the Rev. John Floyd took charge. The first church was erected on Apple Alley near Wilks Street. Father Floyd dying in 1797, Father Garnier was again made pastor until 1803, when the Rev. Michael Coddy succeeded him. Dying within the year, his place was taken by the Rev. John Moranville, through whose zeal the cornerstone of St. Patrick's Church (Broadway and Bank Streets) was laid 10 July, 1804. It was dedicated 29 November, 1807, being then the most imposing church in the diocese. Father Moranville died in 1824, and was succeeded by the Rev. Nicholas Kearney (d. 1840), the Rev. John Dolan (d. 1870), and the Rev. John T. Gaitley (d. 1892). In 1898 the old church was replaced by the present handsome Gothic edifice. St. Patrick's School, begun by Father Moranville, preceded all public schools In Baltimore. The earliest German Catholic congregation was established 17 February, 1702, assembling for the first time for Divine service in a house near Centre Market. About 1800 Father Reuter a priest in charge of the German Catholics, fomented a schism amongst them. They built a church where St. Alphonsus's now stands, called it St. John the Evangelist's, and defied the bishop, who carried the case to the courts, which decided in his favour (1805). Archbishop Eccleston confided the church to the Redemptorists in 1840. The cornerstone of the new church was laid in 1841, the name being changed to St. Alphonsus's. This church is distinguished for two pastors whose repute for sanctity entitles them to special mention, the Venerable John N. Neumann (Bishop of Philadelphia, 1852-60), the process of whose beatification is still pending in Rome (Berger, Life of Right Rev. John N. Neumann, D.D. New York, 1884); and the Rev. Francis X. Seelos who died in 1867, the first steps towards whose canonization were taken in 1901 (Zimmer, Life of Rev. F.X. Seelos, New York, 1887). St. Joseph's, Emmitsburg was founded in 1793, by the Rev. Matthew Ryan. The Revs. John Dubois and Simon Brute were afterwards pastors of this church. The first baptismal record of St. Mary's Church, Bryantown, was entered in 1793. Father David, the first pastor, was transferred to Georgetown in 1804. In 1794, the first church was built in Hagerstown, attended by the Rev. D. Cahill. About 1795 a log church (St. Mary's) was built at Cumberland; a brick church was substituted in 1838. It was replaced by the present church (St. Patrick's) begun in 1849 by the Rev. O. L. Obermeyer, and consecrated in 1883. St. Joseph's, Taneytown, was built by Mr. Brookes (1796). Its first pastor was the well-known Russian nobleman and convert, Father Demetrius A. Gallitzin.

It was soon seen that a coadjutor for the diocese was desirable in case of the bishop's death, and the Rev. Lawrence Graessel, a German priest of Philadelphia, was appointed to that office. This zealous priest dying soon after, the Rev. Leonard Neale, a native of Maryland, was selected, and was consecrated 7 December, 1800, at the Baltimore pro-cathedral. A notable event at this time was the marriage of Jerome Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon, to Miss Patterson of Baltimore, Bishop Carroll officiating (24 December, 1803).

(b) Educational Institutions

As already stated Georgetown College was opened by the Jesuit Fathers in 1791. (Centennial Hist. of Georgetown College, Washington, 1891.) In 1803 the faculty of St. Mary's Seminary instituted an undenominational college course which continued until 1852, when Loyola, College was opened. During this period it numbered among its students many who afterwards became prominent; among others Robert Walsh, A.B. Roman the Latrobes, the Carrolls, the Jenkins, the Foleys, S. Eccleston, J. Chanche, F.E. Chatard, C.I. White. S.T. Wallis, Robert McLane, C.C. Biddle, Reverdy Johnson, Oden Bowie, Leo Knott, Christopher Johnson. At one time (1839-40) it had 207 students. In the meantime an attempt was made to separate the college from the seminary, and in 1807 Father Nagot established a, college at Pigeon Hills, Pennsylvania, but in 1808, the sixteen students were transferred to a new institution begun at Emmitsburg by the Rev. John Dubois, a Sulpician. Such was the beginning of Mt. St. Mary's College. It gave to the Church one cardinal (McCloskey) five archbishops, twenty-one Bishops, and five hundred priests. To carry out a design long entertained by the Sulpicians, St. Charles College, petit seminaire, was begun and built on land donated by Charles Carroll of Carrollton. The cornerstone was laid in 1831, but owing to the lack of funds the college was not opened until 1848. The Rev. O.L. Jenkins was its first president, with one instructor and four students, but at his death (1869) there were thirteen instructors, l40 students, and one hundred priests among-its alumni. Since 1853, St. Mary's Seminary has been exclusively a grand seminaire, with philosophy and theology courses. The memories of the devoted priests who during more than a century have composed its faculties, men of great learning and deep piety, are cherished with loving reverence by the numerous clergy they have taught. The alumni roll of St. Mary's contains the names of one cardinal, 30 bishops, 1.400 priests (Centennial History of St. Mary's Seminary Baltimore, 1891). The Society of Jesus was re-established in Maryland (1805) with the Rev. Robert Molyneux as superior.

In 1808, Mrs. Elisabeth Ann Seton, a convert from Episcopalianism, went from New York to Baltimore and lived with some companions next to St. Mary's Seminary. A convert, the Rev. Samuel S. Cooper, having given Mrs. Seton and her nine companions a lot at Emmitsburg, they founded there (1810) the Academy of St. Joseph. In 1812, the community was established under the rules of the Sisters of Charity and Mrs. Seton was elected mother superior. She died in 1821, leaving a flourishing community of fifty sisters (White, "Life of Eliza A. Seton", New York, 1853; Seton, "Memoir Letters and Journal of Elizabeth Seton", New York 1869; De Barbarry, "Elisabeth Seton", 2 vols., Paris, 1881; Sadlier, New York, s.d.). The community remained independent until 1850, when the sisters allied themselves with the Sisters of Charity of France, adopting the French costume. Thirty-one sisters in the Diocese of New York preferred to continue under the old rule and organized a separate body. During the Civil War (1862-63), 140 Sisters of Charity gave their services on the field and in the hospitals. The following notable institutions have been founded in the diocese from the mother house at Emmitsburg: St. Mary's Orphan Asylum (1817); Mt. Hope Retreat (1840); St. Vincent's Infant Asylum (1856); St. Joseph's House of Industry (1863); St. Agnes's Hospital (1863).

(c) The Baltimore Cathedral

The acquisition of Louisiana by the United States increased the labours of Bishop Carroll. In 1805, the Holy See made him Administrator Apostolic of Louisiana and the Floridas. Until this time the bishop had officiated in St. Peter's Church, built about 1770, at the corner of Northeast and Forrest Streets. The Rev. Bernard Diderick, a Belgian priest, attended the church monthly from 1775-82. The Rev. Charles Sewell of St. Mary's County was the first resident pastor. Persuaded by Dr. DuBourg, the bishop and trustees decided (1806) to erect the new cathedral on the present site. The cornerstone was laid 7 July, 1806, by Bishop Carroll. The first rector of the cathedral was the Rev. Francis Beeston. He died (1809) before the church was finished. His successor was the Rev. Enoch Fenwick (d. 1827), to whose untiring zeal was due the completion of the church in 1821. During the building of the church the congregation had so large that the Sulpicians opened to the chapel of St. Mary's Seminary, then newly dedicated (1808). For half a century it continued to be the succursal church of the cathedral. On 31 May, 1821, the cathedral was dedicated by Archbishop Maréchal. The architect who had generously given his services gratis, and faithfully watched over the erection of the edifice was Benjamin H. Latrobe, a Protestant gentleman, and a devoted friend of Archbishop Carroll. He was engaged at the same time in building the National Capitol. The high altar of the cathedral was a gift to Archbishop Maréchal from his pupils in Marseilles. The imposing portico of the building was added in 1863, under the direction of the architect, Eben Faxon. The cathedral was consecrated 5 May, 1876, by Archbishop Bayley. During Cardinal Gibbons's administration a commodious sacristy was erected (1879); the sanctuary was extended (1888); two altars, gifts of Mrs. Michael Jenkins and James Sloan, were added, and the altar rail in memory of William Boggs donated (1906). There are few edifices in the United States as rich in historical memories as the Baltimore Cathedral. Within its walls have been held three plenary councils (1852, 1866, 1884), ten provincial councils, and nine diocesan synods; three cardinals have been invested, Gibbons, 1886; Satolli 1890; Martinelli, 1901; six archbishops have received the pallium, twenty-fire bishops have been consecrated, and 644 priests have been ordained by Cardinal Gibbons alone. The bishops consecrated in the cathedral were, B.J. Fenwick (1825), Dubois (1826), Whitfield (1828), Purcell (1833), Eccleston (1834), Chanche (1841), Whelan (1841), Tyler (1844), Elder (1857), Barry (1857), Verot (1858), Becker (1868), Gibbons (1868), Thomas Foley (1870), Gross (1873), Northrop (1882), Glorieux (1885), Curtis (1886), Haid (1888), John Foley (1888), Chapelle (1891), Donahue (1891), Alien (1897), Granjon (1900), Conaty (1901). In the chapel built by Cardinal Gibbons under the high altar repose the ashes of Carroll, Maréchal, Whitfield, Eccleston, Kenrick, and Spalding. Besides those already mentioned many distinguished clergymen have been associated with the cathedral; Revs. Roger Smith, Charles C. Pise, Charles I. White, first editor of "The Catholic Mirror", John Hickey, S.S., H.B. Coskery, Thomas Becker, Thomas Foley, Thomas S. Lee, A.A. Curtis, P.J. Donahue, and C.F. Thomas. The cathedral parish has always counted among its members a great number of distinguished persons. Among its pewholders have been Charles Carroll of Carrollton Chief-Justice Taney, David Williamson, Luke Tiernan, Thomas Sim Lee, Thomas C. Jenkins, E. Austin Jenkins, Alfred Jenkins, William George Read, John Hillen, Patrick Bennett, Basil Elder, John Walsh, Solomon Hillen, John and Richard Caton, Dr. Peter Chatard, Abraham White, Jerome Bonaparte, Courtney Jenkins, Mark Jenkins, Basil Spalding, Judge Parkin Scott, Philip Laurenson, M. Benzinger, Charles M. Dougherty, Col. J. N. Bonaparte, William Kennedy, Robert Barry, Columbus O'Donnell, John Murphey. In recent times and at present we find the Attorney-General of the United States, Hon. Charles J. Bonaparte, Michael Jenkins, Joseph Jenkins, Dr. Felix Jenkins, George Jenkins, the Misses Jenkins, Mr. and the Misses Andrews, the Misses Gardner, William Boggs, Daniel Foley, Mrs. and the Misses Mactavish, W. R. Cromwell, Mrs. John S. Gittings, Major N. S. Hill, Richard and Allen MacSherry, Charles G. Nicholson, Miss Emily Harper, C. D. Kenny, A. Leo Knott, J.M. Littig, the Drs. Milholland, Robert Rennert, Robert Jenkins, Henry Rogue, the Messrs. Abell, the Misses Abell, Mrs. Alice Caughy, Messrs. Shriver, Josrph Turner, Mrs. Van Bibber, Owen Daly, Alexander Yearley, Harry Benzinger, James R. Wheeler, Charles Tiernan, Judge Charles Heuisler, Drs. Chatard, Drs. O'Donovan, Dr.

Charles Grindall, Messrs. and the Misses Boone, Edgar Gans, Captain Billups, Messrs. Key, F. Dammann, Mrs. J.I. Griffiss, and Victor Baughman. Indeed the roll-call of the cathedral parishioners contains the names of the most distinguished Catholics of their times. It is worthy of remark that although the trustee system has been continued at the cathedral for over one hundred years, there has never been any serious disagreement between the clergy and laity. The archiepiscopal residence was built during Dr. Whitfield's administration, and the two wings were added in 1865 by Captain William Kennedy.

(d) Division of the Diocese

In compliance with Bishop Carroll's request for a division of his diocese, Pius VII (8 April, 1808) issued the Bulls treating four new sees, naming the Rev. Richard L. Concannen, a Dominican for New York; the Rev. Michael Egan, a Franciscan for Philadelphia; the Rev. John Cheverus for Boston, and the Rev. Benedict Joseph Flaget, Suplician, for Bardstown. At the same time Baltimore was made the metropolitan see with Dr. Carroll as the first archbishop. Dr. Concannen, consecrated in Rome (1808), died at Naples (1810) when about to sail. Dr. Egan and Dr. Cheverus were consecrated at Baltimore in the pro-cathedral (1810) and Dr. Flaget at St. Patrick's the same year. The pallium was conferred on Archbishop Carroll in St. Peter's, Baltimore, 18 August, 1811. At this time there were in the United States about seventy priests and eighty churches. Maryland, Virginia, the District of Columbia, the Carolinas, what is now Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Florida were still under the jurisdiction of Baltimore, and 1811 the Holy See added some of the Danish and Dutch West Indies. At this period occurred the interference of Archbishop Troy and other Irish bishops in American affairs (Shea, Life and Times of Abp. Carroll, pp. 664-668). Dr. Carroll's protest at Rome was rendered ineffectual, owing to the representations of the Dominican Fathers Harold, who had hastened the death of Bishop Egan of Philadelphia, and afterwards, in Europe, enlisted against the Archbishop the support of the Irish prelates. Worn out with the struggle, he died 3 December, 1815.

III. Successors of Archbishop Carroll

(a) Leonard Neale

Archbishop Carroll was succeeded by Leonard Neale, a native of Maryland. The Poor Clares (Mother Mary de la Marché end two others) had already opened an academy in 1801 at Georgetown, with Miss Alice Lalor as assistant teacher. These nuns returned to Europe after the death of the abbess; Miss Lalor continued the academy. Archbishop Neale erected the community of teachers into a house of the Order of the Visitation 28 December, 1817. Archbishop Neale died 17 June, at Georgetown, and was buried in the convent chapel.

(b) Ambrose Maréchal

Archbishop Maréchal was born in France, and joined the Company of St. Sulpice. He had already refused the See of Philadelphia (1816), but finally consented to become Archbishop Neale's coadjutor. He was consecrated at St. Peter's, Baltimore, 14 December, 1817, by Bishop Cheverus. In his first visitation he confirmed 2,506 persons. In his diocese, which comprised Maryland, Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, and the territory west of Georgia to the Mississippi, there were then, according to his estimate, 100,000 Catholics. About 10,000 were in Baltimore, having increased to that figure from 800 in 1792. In one year there were 10,000 communions in the seminary chapel alone. There were fifty-two priests, principally French and American born. The Diocese of Baltimore at this time (1819) mourned the loss of Thomas Sim Lee, twice governor, and Maryland's representative in the Convention which ratified the Constitution. In 1820, two schismatic priests, aided by intriguing Irish prelates, succeeded in having Patrick Kelly secretly appointed to the See of Richmond and John England to that of Charleston. Thus, without the archbishop's knowledge or consent, New York, Philadelphia, Richmond, and Charleston were given for bishops utter strangers, bound by oath of allegiance to England, then at variance with the United States. The Diocese of Baltimore was thus divided into two parts, Maryland and the District of Columbia on the Atlantic, and a thousand miles off Alabama and Mississippi, with Richmond and Charleston between. Archbishop Maréchal while at Rome, (1821) obtained for the provincial bishops the right to recommend candidates for vacant sees. Mississippi was erected into a Vicariate Apostolic with Dr. DuBourg as Vicar Apostolic; Alabama and Florida were attached to the Vicariate Apostolic of Mobile (1825). In 1822. Bishop Kelly returned to Ireland, and Archbishop Maréchal was appointed Administrator of the Diocese of Richmond. The archbishop died 29 January, 1628.

(c) James Whitfield

He was succeeded by James Whitfield, an Englishman by birth. His consecration by Bishop Flaget took place 25 May, 1828, in the cathedral. October 4, 1829, the First Provincial Council of Baltimore was opened, and the same day the archbishop received the pallium. The Fathers of this council were Archbishop Whitfield, Bishops Flaget, the two Fenwicks (Boston and Cincinnati), England, Rosati, and Rev. William Matthews, representing Philadelphia. (See BALTIMORE, THE PROVINCIAL COUNCILS OF.) To carry out the council's decrees, a Synod, attended by thirty-five priests, was held 31 October, 1831. There were at this time in Maryland about 80,000 Catholics in a population of 407,000; in the District of Columbia about 7,000 in a population of 33,000. There were fifty-two priests in the diocese. Out of his private fortune, Archbishop Whitfield built St. James's Church, Baltimore (1833) It was first used by English-speaking Catholics, who, finding it too small for their increasing numbers, commenced the erection of St. Vincent's Church (1841). About the same time the German congregation of St. John's (Saratoga Street) began the building of their new church, St. Alphonsus; needing in the meantime a place for worship, they were granted the use of St. James's, after the opening of St. Vincent's (of which Father Gildea was the first pastor). The Redemptorists from St. Alphonsus took charge henceforth of St. James's and built there the first convent of their order in the United States. Several other churches were established by the Redemptorists. In 1845, they founded St. Michael's, a small church on the corner of Pratt and Regester Streets; the present church on the corner of Lombard and Wolfe Streets was commenced in 1857. Its congregation is now one of the largest in the city. The Redemptorists also founded Holy Cross parish, the cornerstone of the church being laid in 1858. Since 1869, the secular clergy have been in charge. The church of the Fourteen Holy Martyrs was begun (1870) by the Redemptorists; in 1874, they transferred it to the Benedictines. Rev. Meinrad Jeggle, O.S.B., was rector from 1878 to 1896. The new church was commenced in 1902. St. Wenceslaus's, dedicated in 1872, formed the nucleus of the Slav congregations in Baltimore. The Redemptorists took charge of it in 1882. A new church and school were commenced in 1903. In 1873 they began the Sacred Heart Church (Canton).

The Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus was formally established in 1833, with Father William McSherry, a Virginian, as first provincial. The Second Provincial Council met at the cathedral, Baltimore, 20 October, 1833. Besides Archbishop Whitfield, there were present Bishops David, England, Rosati, Fenwick (Boston), Dubois Portier, F.P. Kenrick, Rese, Purcell. Bishop Flaget was absent; the Jesuits, Sulpicians, and Dominicans were represented. A Roman Ritual adapted to the wants of this country was ordered to be prepared. Rev. Samuel Eccleston elected coadjutor, was consecrated in the cathedral 14 September, 1834, by Archbishop Whitfield, who died the following October.

(d) Samuel Eccleston

Archbishop Eccleston. a native of Maryland, a convert and a Sulpician, was thirty-three years old when he succeeded to the See of Baltimore. During his administration the anti Catholic sentiment began to lose its violence and the tide of conversions set in. In 1834 there were within the jurisdiction of Baltimore (Maryland, Virginia, and District of Columbia) 70 churches and 69 priests. There were only 327 priests in the whole United States. The Visitation Nuns from Georgetown established a house in Baltimore (1837) with Mother Juliana Matthews as first superioress. Mother Anastasia Coombes established another Visitation monastery at Frederick in 1846. In 1852 another house was established (Mt. de Sales) at Catonsville, under Mother Cecilia Brooks.

The Third Provincial Council was held in the cathedral, 1837. It was attended by the archbishop and Rosati, Fenwick (Boston), F. P. Kenrick, Chabrat, Clancy, Bruté, Blanc. Bishop Dubois declined to assist. The Fourth Provincial Council was opened at the cathedral, 16 May, 1840. Ten bishops accepted the invitation of Archbishop Eccleston to attend the council, Flatget, Rosati, Fenwick (Boston), Portier, F. P. Kenrick, Purcell, Blanc, Loras, Miles, De la Hailandière. The Sulpicians, Dominicans, and Redemptorists were also represented. Rev. Richard Whelan and Rev. John Chanche were recommended by this council, respectively for the Dioceses of Richmond and Natchez, thus freeing the archbishop from the administration of Richmond. The St. Vincent de Paul Society was established in the diocese (1840) and the Young Catholic Friends' Society in 1848. In 1842, the cornerstone of Calvert Hall was laid on the site of the pro-cathedral (Saratoga. Street). The present imposing building was opened 1891. Rock Hill Academy was purchased by the Christian Brothers (1857) and Rock Hill College incorporated 1865.

The Fifth Provincial Council was held in the cathedral, May, 1843. It was attended by seventeen bishops. At this time there were 90,000 Catholics, 58 churches, 70 priests, two seminaries, three colleges, two academies for boys, six for girls, five orphan asylums, and ten free schools. The total population of Maryland in 1840 was 469,232. The Sixth Provincial Council met at the cathedral, 10 May, 1846. Twenty-three bishops were present and four religious orders were represented. "The Blessed Virgin Mary Conceived Without Sin" was chosen as patroness of the Province. Sisters of Notre Dame (mother-house of Eastern Province on Aisquith Street) came to Baltimore, 5 August, 1817. "Notre Dame of Maryland" was established 22 September, 1873. The Seventh Provincial Council met at the cathedral, May, 1849. Archbishop Eccleston, in pursuance of the council's decision, issued a pastoral letter reviving the custom of Peter's-pence and inviting Pius IX then in exile at Gaeta, to attend. The Archbishops of Baltimore and St. Louis and twenty-three bishops were present; seven religious orders were represented. This council recommended New Orleans, Cincinnati, and New York as metropolitan sees, also the creation of the Sees of Savannah, Wheeling, and St. Paul. The fathers petitioned for the definition of the Immaculate Conception. One of their decrees forbade priests officiating at marriages where a minister had officiated or intended to do so. The Province of Baltimore now comprised the Dioceses of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Richmond, Wheeling, Charleston, and Savanna.

About this time Rev. John Hickey established a precedent by refusing to testify in court concerning stolen property restored through a penitent. The court sustained him. During Archbishop Eccleston's time, besides those mentioned above, several other churches were erected. The cornerstone of St. Joseph's was laid in 1839. In 1849, it was given to the Jesuits, but returned to the diocesan clergy in 1860. The new church was begun in 1899. St. Peter's, begun in 1843, was consecrated in 1879 under Rev. Edward McColgan, V.G., its first pastor. The Sisters of Mercy came to St. Peter's from Pittsburg in 1855; Mother Catherine Wynne was first superioress. They afterwards opened Mt. St. Agnes (1867) of which Mother de Chantal Digges was first superioress; they also have charge of the City Hospital. St. Augustine's (Elkridge) was founded 1845. Its first pastor was Rev. B. Plot the present beautiful church is the gift of Mr. C. D. Kenney (1902). St. Charles Borromeo (Pikesville) was commenced 16 July, 1848, by Father White. The present imposing Romanesque edifice was dedicated 12 March, 1899. The Immaculate Conception parish was organized in 1850 with Rev. Mark Anthony, C.M.,as its first pastor the present church was dedicated in 1858, during the pastorate of Rev. Joseph Giustiniani, C.M. Archbishop Eccleston died at Georgetown, 22 April, 1851, and was buried in Baltimore. At this time there were in the diocese (Maryland and District of Columbia) 83 churches and chapels; 103 priests; 6 ecclesiastical seminaries; 12 free schools, and 23 charitable institutions; Catholic population 100,000. Rev. H. B. Coskery was administrator until the following August, when Dr. Francis P. Kenrick, Coadjutor-Bishop of Philadelphia, was elevated to the See of Baltimore.

(e) Francis Patrick Kenrik

Archbishop Kenrick convoked the First Plenary Council of Baltimore, 9 May, 1852. (See BALTIMORE, PLENARY COUNCIL OF.) to carry out the council's decrees a synod was called (June, 1853), attended by 35 diocesan and 17 regular priests. At this synod parochial rights and limits were defined. The Eighth Provincial Council met in the Baltimore Cathedral, 5 May, 1855. Eight sees were represented. It regulated pew rents and collections, and established a rule for the cathedraticum. Col. B. U. Campbell, a Maryland Catholic, who by his contributions laid the foundation for the history of the Church in the United States, died about this time (1855). In 1856 the Catholics of the city of Baltimore numbered 81,000, and had 13 churches, while in the entire diocese (Maryland and the District of Columbia) there were 99 churches and chapels, 130 priests, and a population of 120,000. The Forty Hours' Devotion was established in the diocese (1858). In 1858 the Ninth Provincial Council was held in the cathedral; 8 bishops were present and 6 religious orders were represented. At the Council's request the Holy See granted to the Archbishop of Baltimore the precedence in councils and meetings, held by the prelates of the United States, even though he were not senior archbishop. The petition of the Fathers of this Council for a perpetual dispensation from the Saturday abstinence was granted. In 1862, the Baltimore Province comprised Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Charleston, Savannah, Richmond, Wheeling, Erie, and the Vicariate Apostolic of Florida. In the Diocese of Baltimore there were 124 churches and chapels; 170 priests, 36 free schools, 35 charitable institutions: Catholic population 150,000.

A synod was convened (1863) at which the version of the Bible revised by the archbishop was adopted as the one to be used in the diocese. Under Archbishop Kenrick, the following churches were built in Baltimore: St. John's in 1853, with Rev. J. B. McManus as first pastor. The present church was opened in 1856. The church of St. Ignatius Loyola was consecrated 15 August 1856. Rev. John Early, S.J., was its first, pastor and founder of Loyola College on Holliday Street (1852); in 1855 the present college was opened on Calvert Street (Hist. Sketch of Loyola Baltimore, 1902). Many distinguished citizens claim it as their Alma Mater. St. Bridget's Church (Canton) was dedicated 1854 and was built by Rev. James Dolan out of his private means, as were also St. Mary's, Govanstown, and the Dolan Orphans' Home. Rev. John Constance was first pastor of St. Bridget's. New churches were begun in Kent County, Long Green, and Clarkesville during 1855. Archbishop Kenrick died 6 July, 1863, and Very Rev. H.B. Coskery, a native of Maryland, again became administrator. He had been appointed Bishop of Portland in 1854, but had returned the Bulls.

Black Catholics

During his administration St. Francis Xavier's Church for negroes was dedicated (1864). Its first pastor was Father Michael O'Connor. It was put in charge of the Josephites (1871) from Mill Hill College, England, brought to Baltimore by Rev. Herbert Vaughan. These missionaries came to minister to the Catholic negroes of Maryland, there being -- greatly to the honour of their Catholic masters -- 16,000 of them in the State at the time of the emancipation. From St. Francis sprung St. Monica's, St. Peter Claver's (1889), and St. Barnabas's (1907), all churches for black people. As early as 1828 the Sulpician Father Jacques Joubert founded at Baltimore a house of Coloured Oblate Sisters of Providence. They conduct at present St. Frances's Academy and Orphanage, and in Washington St. Cyprian's Parochial School and Academy. St. Joseph's Seminary was opened in Baltimore by the Josephites (1888) with three white and one black student. Epiphany Apostolic College, its preparatory seminary, was opened in 1889 by Rev. Dominic Manley. 1881 St. Elizabeth's Home for black children was established in Baltimore by Mother Winifred and three English Sisters of St. Francis. Their convent on Maryland Avenue was opened in 1889, the house being a gift to the order from Mrs. E. Austin Jenkins.

(f) Martin John Spalding

At Archbishop Kenrick's death the United States Government attempted to interfere in the selection of an archbishop, but failed (Cathedral Records, Baltimore, 100G. p. 46; Shea, Hist. of Cath. Ch. in U. S., 1844-66, New York 1889-92 p. 393), and the Rt. Rev. Martin John Spalding, Bishop of Louisville, was elected 23 May, 1864. Archbishop Spalding invited the Sisters of the Good Shepherd from Louisville (1864) to come to Baltimore, and established them in a home given by Mrs. Emily Mactavish Their work is the reformation of fallen women and the preservation of young girls. At this time (1864) the Church lost one of its foremost members, Roger B. Taney, Chief Justice of the United States. The Tenth Provincial Council was opened in the cathedral, 25 April 1869; 14 prelates were present. The Second Plenary Council of Baltimore met 7 October, 1866, in the cathedral. It recommended the establishment of the Apostolic Vicariate of North Carolina. St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys, erected on land donated by Mrs. Emily Mactavish, was opened in 1866, and placed in charge of the Xaverian Brothers from Belgium. Mt. St. Joseph's College, begun (1876) as an aid to the Xaverian Noviate has now 40 novices and 150 students. St. James's Home (Baltimore) furthers the work of the Industrial School by securing positions for, and boarding, older boys. It has about 70 boarders. A somewhat unusual event took place in August, 1868, when Revs. James Gibbons and Thomas Becker were consecrated together in the cathedral by Archbishop Spalding. Woodstock College, the seminary of the Jesuit Fathers, was opened in 1869; Father Angelo Barasci was its first rector. Since then many standard treatises on theology philosophy, and science have been published by its professors, the best known being the works of Mazzella, De Augustinis, Sabetti, Maas, Piccirelii. and Sestini. In 1865 John T. Stephanini and Charles Long, Passionist Fathers, were appointed to St. Agnes's Church, Catonsville. The Passionist monastery of St. Joseph was completed in 1868; Father Long was elected its first rector. It was destroyed by fire in 1883 and a new monastery was built in 1886. The Little Sisters of the Poor were established in Baltimore, 6 April, 1869. Since then 3,082 old people have been cared for by them. Rev. Thomas Foley, who had been at the cathedral for twenty-two years, was consecrated Administrator of Chicago in 1870. Archbishop Spalding died 7 February, 1872. During his administration the churches built in Baltimore were: St. Martin's (Fulton Avenue) cornerstone laid in 1865, Rev. John Foley, first pastor; St. Mary's Star of the Sea founded in 1869, by Rev. Peter McCoy. The Sisters of St. Joseph came to this parish in 1875. After Archbishop Spalding's death, Very Rev. John Dougherty administered the diocese until the installation of Archbishop Bayley (October, 1872).

(g) James Roosevelt Bayley

Archbishop Bayley had been an Episcopalian minister in New York, became a Catholic, a priest, and at the time of his elevation to Baltimore, was Bishop of Newark. Philadelphia was made a metropolitan see in 1875. The Province of Baltimore was thus limited to the Sees of Baltimore, Charleston, Richmond, Wheeling, Savannah, Wilmington, St. Augustine (created 1870), and the Vicariate of North Carolina. There were in the diocese in 1870, 160 churches and chapels; 230 priests; 18 charitable, and six educational, institutions. In one year the archbishop confirmed two hundred times. Of the: 6,405 persons confirmed, 817 were converts The Eighth Provincial Synod opened in Baltimore, 27 August, 1875; 93 priests and representatives of 8 religious communities were present. St. Ann's (York Road) built by Capt. William Kennedy and his wife, was dedicated in 1874, Rev. William E. Bartlett being its first pastor. The Capuchin Fathers established themselves in the diocese (1875) in the Monastery of St. Peter and Paul, Cumberland. In 1882, it was made the seminary of the order; 59 priests have been ordained there. Previous to this, the Redemptorist, Rev. John N. Neumann, had built the church of St. Peter and Paul on the site of Fort Cumberland (1848). In 1866, the Carmelites succeeded the Redemptorists and remained until 1815, when the Capuchin Fathers took charge. When the Redemptorists left Cumberland, they established (1867) their House of studies at Ilchester (Hist. of the Redemptorists at Annapolis, Ilchester, 1904). St. Catherine's Normal Institute for training Catholic teachers was established in Baltimore (1875) by Sisters of the Holy Cross. They have schools also attached to the churches of St. Patrick and St. Pius. The latter church was begun by Archbishop Bayley, its erection being made possible by a generous donation of Mr. Columbus O'Donnell. It was dedicated in 1879, with Rev. L.S. Malloy first pastor. The Right Rev. James Gibbons, Bishop of Richmond, was made coadjutor with right of succession 20 May. 1877. Archbishop Bayley died the following October.

(h) James Gibbons

Archbishop Gibbons is the only Archbishop of Baltimore born in that city. The Third Plenary Council met in the cathedral 9 November, 1884 -- being the largest council held outside of Rome since the Council of Trent. The zuchetta was conferred upon Cardinal Gibbons 7 June, 1886, and the following March he was invested in Rome and took possession of his titular church, Santa Maria in Trastevere. The Ninth Provincial Synod was convened in Baltimore September, 1886, 115 priests at tending; 8 religious orders were represented. The Catholic University of America was instituted in 1887, and the Archbishop of Baltimore was named, ex officio, the Chancellor. The centenary of the diocese was celebrated November, 1889. There were present Cardinals Gibbons and Taschereau; Msgr. Satolli, representative of the pope, 8 archbishops, 75 bishops, 18 monsignori, and 400 priests. Canada Mexico, England, and Ireland were represented. On that occasion leading Catholic laymen took part in a Catholic Congress (Hughes, Proceedings of Catholic Congress Detroit, 1890) and there was a procession of 30,000 men with Mr. James R. Wheeler as marshal. In 1893, the cardinal's Silver Jubilee was celebrated. Nearly every see in the United States was represented; there were also present representatives of the Holy Father, and of the episcopate of England, Ireland, Canada, and Oceania. Bishop A. A. Curtis was consecrated in the cathedral November, 1886 and Bishop P. J. Donahue in 1894. 29 April, 1906, the centenary of the laying of the cornerstone of the cathedral was celebrated. There were present the cardinal, the apostolic delegate Most Rev. Diomede Falconio, 9 archbishops, 56 bishops, 4 abbots, and about 800 priests.

Among the late additions to the diocese are the Mission Helpers and the Sisters of Divine Providence. The Mission Helpers opened a house in Baltimore in 1890 it was canonically organized, 5 November 1906. The Sisters of Divine Providence (of Kentucky) were established in the diocese in 1892, having charge of the household interests of the Catholic University, St. Mary's Seminary, and the cardinal's residence. The churches built during Cardinal Gibbons's administration, in addition to those already mentioned are: St. Andrew's, dedicated 6 October, 1878; St. Paul's founded in 1899 (the present imposing church was erected in 1903); St. Gregory's by means of a donation of Mr. Patrick McKenna (1884); St. Stanislaus's (Polish), founded in 1880 and taken over in 1906 by the Franciscans; Corpus Christi built through the munificence of the sons and daughters of Mr. Thomas C. Jenkins, in memory of their parents. and dedicated 1 January, 1891; St. Lee's (Italian); begun in 1880, by Rev. J. L. Andreis. During the administration of Cardinal Gibbons 86 new churches have been erected in the diocese. At present there are 211 priests of the diocese and 273 of religious orders. There are 128 churches with resident pastors and 136 chapels. In Baltimore there are 44 (24 built during the administration of Cardinal Gibbons) and 18 in Washington (10 built in the same period). There are three universities, 11 seminaries, 13 colleges and academies, 95 parochial schools with 21,711 pupils, and 7 industrial schools. The Catholic population is at present about 255,000. The increase (1906) was 10,611, of whom 800 were converts.

Owing to the disinterested spirit of its archbishops, the Archdiocese of Baltimore, the Mother Church of the United States, has been subdivided until, in extent of territory, it is one of the smallest. Yet it yields to none in its spirit of faith and in the generosity of its people. Whenever called upon by the voice of religion its children have responded in a manner beyond their proportionate share. In support of the Catholic University, it is surpassed by none in proportion to its population. In the gatherings of the prelates of the United States the Catholic homes of Baltimore have welcomed the visitors to their hospitality. Probably no diocese has been so enriched by private donations for churches and institutions. The growth of the Catholic population is due first to natural increase, secondly to immigration and thirdly to conversion. The large proportion of conversions must be attributed in a great measure to the personal popularity of its present archbishop, Cardinal Gibbons, and to the influence of his convert-making book, "The Faith of Our Fathers".

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