John Carroll Appointed First Roman Catholic Bishop in the United States
John Carroll was appointed the first Roman Catholic bishop in the United States on November 6, 1789, when the diocese of Baltimore was established. Born on January 8, 1738, in Upper Marlborough, Maryland, Carroll came from a prominent family with connections to key figures in American history, including signers of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. He received his education at Jesuit institutions both in Maryland and Europe, ultimately joining the Jesuit order. Carroll returned to America in 1774 and became a vocal advocate for both American independence and the organization of the Catholic clergy in the nation.
Upon his appointment as bishop, he traveled to England for consecration and returned to oversee a vast diocese stretching from the Atlantic to the Mississippi River. Carroll was instrumental in founding educational institutions, including Georgetown University and St. Mary’s Seminary, laying the groundwork for Catholic education in the U.S. His contributions extended beyond education, as he actively engaged in community leadership and was recognized for his patriotism. Carroll became an archbishop in 1808 and continued to serve until his death in 1815, leaving a lasting legacy in the American Catholic Church and education system.
John Carroll Appointed First Roman Catholic Bishop in the United States
John Carroll Appointed First Roman Catholic Bishop in the United States
On November 6, 1789, the see (or diocese) of Baltimore, Maryland, was established when John Carroll received his official appointment as bishop of Baltimore, thus becoming the first Roman Catholic bishop in the United States.
The Carrolls were a wealthy and distinguished family. John Carroll's brother Daniel was one of the signers of the Constitution of the United States, and his cousin Charles Carroll of Carrollton (as he styled himself) was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. John Carroll himself was born in Upper Marlborough, Maryland, on January 8, 1738. He received some of his early education at Bohemia Manor, a Jesuit elementary school in northern Maryland. Subsequently, since there were no Catholic high schools and few secondary schools that would take Catholics in that era, when he was 13 years old he was sent abroad with his cousin Charles to St. Omer's, which was a well-known school run by English Jesuits in French Flanders. Charles completed his education and returned to America in 1765, while John entered the Jesuit order in Belgium in 1753 and was ordained (probably in 1769) after the traditionally lengthy Jesuit training.
After traveling extensively in Europe (1771-1773) as tutor to the son of a British nobleman named Lord Stourton, Carroll went back to his Jesuit house in Belgium in the summer of 1773 when news arrived that the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) had been dissolved by papal action on July 21, 1773 (it was restored many years later). Carroll remained at the house until the following October, when government officials invaded it and Carroll was arrested. Lord Arundell of Wardour intervened, and Carroll went to England to serve as family chaplain.
In 1774 Carroll returned to America where he lived with his aged mother at Rock Creek, Maryland, performing his duties and ministering to the spiritual needs of people in the area. From the time that he returned to America, he dedicated himself to two goals, both of which he saw achieved in his lifetime. First, as an American, he was a staunch advocate of American independence. Second, as a priest, he hoped to organize the Roman Catholic clergy in America for a more effective ministry.
At the request of the Continental Congress, in 1776 John Carroll accompanied his cousin Charles Carroll, Samuel Chase, and Benjamin Franklin to Canada to ask Canada to either join with the colonies in their fight for independence or to at least remain neutral. The mission failed, and the discouraged Americans made the long journey home. Carroll returned to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with the ailing 70-year-old Franklin, who thanked him for his “friendly assistance and tender care.”
In 1784, when the pope moved to appoint a vicar general for the Roman Catholic clergy in the United States, it was on Franklin's recommendation that Carroll was named “head of the missions in the provinces…of the United States.” After receiving his episcopal appointment in 1789, Carroll went to Great Britain to be consecrated by Bishop Charles Walmesley on August 15, 1790, in Lulworth Castle Chapel in Dorset. Carroll returned to America as a consecrated bishop with a diocese-then the only see in the United States-that stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River and from Canada to Florida.
Even before he had received any official authority, Carroll set about his life's work of building schools, establishing seminaries, and encouraging the formation of religious orders of men and women. In 1789 he founded an “academy” at “George Town on the Patowmack River, Maryland,” the first Catholic college in the United States. Carroll lived to see Georgetown raised from college to university rank in 1815, and today Georgetown University is one of the most prestigious institutions of higher learning in the United States.
In 1791 Carroll founded St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore, the first Catholic seminary (which was closed in 1969) in the United States. Carroll was recognized not only as a founder of Catholic schools, but also as a patron of all educational institutions as served on the boards of several secular schools and colleges. A number of educational centers have been named for him, the oldest and most notable being Cleveland's John Carroll University, founded by Jesuits in 1886. He was also the president of the Baltimore Library Company from its inception until his death. In 1785 George Washington and Carroll both received honorary degrees at the second annual commencement of Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland.
The first American bishop visited the first American president in retirement at Mount Vernon, and after Washington's death Carroll preached a eulogy for him at St. Peter's Church in Baltimore on February 22, 1800. In recognition of his patriotism, Carroll was invited to speak at the 1815 laying of the cornerstone of the first Washington Monument to be built (at Charles and Monument streets in Baltimore), but poor health forced him to decline the offer. Carroll, who had been made an archbishop on April 8, 1808, died on December 3, 1815, and was buried in the chapel of St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore. In 1824 his body was removed to the cathedral.