Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore - History

History

See also: History of Roman Catholicism in the United States #Colonial era, History of Roman Catholicism in the United States #English colonies, and History of Roman Catholicism in the United States #American Revolution

Before and during the American Revolutionary War, the Catholics in Great Britain's thirteen colonies in America (and also its colonies in Canada) were under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the bishop of the Apostolic Vicariate of the London District, in England. The war was formally ended by the Treaty of Paris, which was signed on September 3, 1783, and was ratified by the Congress of the Confederation (of the newly independent United States of America) on January 14, 1784, and by the King of Great Britain on April 9, 1784. The ratification documents were exchanged in Paris on May 12, 1784.

A petition was sent by the Maryland clergy to the Holy See, on November 6, 1783, for permission for the missionaries in the United States to nominate a superior who would have some of the powers of a bishop. In response to that, Father John Carroll — having been selected by his brother priests — was confirmed by Pope Pius VI, on June 6, 1784, as Superior of the Missions in the thirteen United States of North America, with power to give the sacrament of confirmation. This act established a hierarchy in the United States and removed the Catholic Church in the U.S. from the authority of the Vicar Apostolic of the London District.

The Holy See then established the Apostolic Prefecture of the United States on November 26, 1784. Because Maryland was one of the few regions of the colonial United States that was predominantly Catholic, the apostolic prefecture was elevated to become the Diocese of Baltimore — the first diocese in the United States — on November 6, 1789.

On April 8, 1808, the suffragan dioceses of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Bardstown (moved in 1841 to Louisville) were erected by Pope Pius VII from the territory of the Diocese of Baltimore, which was simultaneously raised to the rank of metropolitan archdiocese. The newly established Province of Baltimore — whose metropolitan was archbishop of the Archdiocese of Baltimore — comprised all of the states and territories of the nation.

The Archdiocese again lost territory with the creation of the Diocese of Richmond (Va.) on July 11, 1820, and the Diocese of Wilmington (Del.) on March 3, 1868. In 1850, the Diocese of Wheeling (then in Va.; now Wheeling-Charleston, W. Va.) was erected, from the Diocese of Richmond. In 1974, the Diocese of Arlington (Va.) was erected, from the Diocese of Richmond.

On July 22, 1939, the see was renamed the Archdiocese of Baltimore-Washington, in recognition of the nation's capital. Eight years later, on November 15, 1947, the District of Columbia and the five southern counties of Maryland became the Archdiocese of Washington (D.C.), resulting in the present-day Archdiocese of Baltimore, which consists of the City of Baltimore and nine counties of central and western Maryland.

From 1808 until 1847, Baltimore was the only archdiocese and therefore the entire country was one ecclesiastical province. As the nation's population grew and waves of Catholic immigrants came from Europe, the Holy See continued to erect new dioceses and elevate others to metropolitan archdioceses, which simultaneously became metropolitan sees of new ecclesiastical provinces. Thus, the Province of Baltimore gradually became smaller and smaller. In 1847, the then-Diocese of Saint Louis was elevated to an archdiocese and metropolitan see of the new Province of Saint Louis. In 1850, the Diocese of New York was raised to an archdiocese. Also in 1850, the Diocese of Oregon City (now Portland) was raised to an archdiocese. In 1875, the dioceses of Boston and Philadelphia were likewise elevated.

The Archdiocese has published The Catholic Review since the 19th century.