John Carroll (bishop) - Ministry As Bishop

Ministry As Bishop

The American clergy, originally reluctant to request the formation of a diocese due to fears of public misunderstanding and the possibility of a foreign bishop being imposed upon them, eventually recognized the need for a Roman Catholic bishop. The election of Samuel Seabury (1729–1796) in 1783 as the first Anglican bishop in the United States had already shown that Americans would not necessarily be hostile to the appointment of a Catholic bishop. The American clergy had also received the assurances of the Continental Congress that it would not object to election of a bishop whose allegiance was to Rome. Accordingly, on March 12, 1788 the Roman Catholic clergy of the United States requested permission from Rome to elect their first bishop. Permission was granted July 12, 1788.

Carroll was elected Bishop of Baltimore by the clergy of the new nation in April 1789 by a vote of 24 out of 26 and on November 6, 1789 Pope Pius VI approved the election, naming Carroll the first Roman Catholic bishop in the United States. He was ordained a bishop by Bishop Charles Walmesley on August 15, 1790 (the Feast of the Assumption) in the chapel of Lulworth Castle in Dorset, England. He was invested at St. Thomas Manor, in Charles County, Maryland and on his arrival in Baltimore took his chair in the Church of St. Peter, which would serve as his pro-cathedral. Carroll was the only Roman Catholic bishop in the United States who was elected rather than appointed by the Pope.