John Carroll (bishop)

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John Carol †

Senior posting
See	Archdiocese of Baltimore
Title	Archbishop of Baltimore
Period in office	November 6, 1789—December 3, 1815
Predecessor	None
Successor	Leonard Neale †
Religious career
Priestly ordination	February 14, 1761
Personal
Date of birth	January 8, 1735
Place of birth	Upper Marlboro, Maryland
Date of death	December 3, 1815
Place of death	Baltimore, Maryland

Styles of John Carroll (bishop)
Reference style	The Most Reverend
Spoken style	Your Excellency
Religious style	Monsignor
Posthumous style	none

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (January 2008)

John Carroll, (January 8, 1735 – December 3, 1815) was the first bishop and archbishop in the United States — serving as the ordinary of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore. He is also known as the founder of Georgetown University, the oldest Catholic university in the United States, and the Georgetown Preparatory School, the oldest Catholic day and boarding school in the United States.

Contents 1 Early life and education 2 Ordination 3 Return to the United States 4 Appointment to Superior of the Missions 5 Appointment to bishop 6 First synod of Catholic priests in the United States 7 Founding of Georgetown University 8 Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary 9 Elevation to archbishop 10 Death 11 Institutions named for him 12 See also 13 External links 14 References 15 Sources

[edit] Early life and education

Carroll was born to Daniel Carroll, a native of Ireland, and Eleanor Darnall Carroll, his wife, at the family home Darnall's Chance in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, and educated at the College of St. Omer in French Flanders (during the upheavals following the French Revolution the college migrated to Bruges and then Liège before finally settling at Stonyhurst in England in 1794 where it remains to this day). Attending St. Omer with him was his cousin Charles Carroll of Carrollton, who was to become the only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence and the first United States Senator from Maryland. John Carroll's younger brother, Daniel Carroll became one of only five men to sign both the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution of the United States.^{[1] [2] [3]}

[edit] Ordination

Carroll joined the Society of Jesus in 1753. In 1755, he began his studies of philosophy and theology at Liège, and after fourteen years was ordained to the priesthood in 1769. Carroll remained in Europe until he was almost 40, teaching at St-Omer and Liège, and acting as chaplain to several British aristocrats traveling on the continent.

[edit] Return to the United States

When the Society of Jesus was dissolved in 1773, Carroll made arrangements to return to Maryland. As a result of laws discriminating against Catholics, there was then no public Catholic Church in Maryland, so Father Carroll began the life of a missionary in Maryland and Virginia.

Carroll founded St. John the Evangelist Parish at Forest Glen (Silver Spring) in 1774. In 1776, the Continental Congress asked Carroll, his cousin Charles Carroll, Samuel Chase, and Benjamin Franklin to travel to Quebec and attempt to persuade the French Canadian population to join the revolution. Although the group was unsuccessful, it made Carroll well known to the government of the new republic. Carroll was in fact excommunicated by the local Quebec bishop, Jean-Olivier Briand. ^[4]

In 1783, the Jesuit Fathers, led by Carroll and five other priests, began a series of meetings at White Marsh beginning on 27 June, 1783 called the General Chapters that organized the Catholic Church in the United States on what is now the site of Sacred Heart Church in Maryland.^[5][6]

[edit] Appointment to Superior of the Missions

In response to a petition sent by the Maryland clergy to Rome, 6 November, 1783, for permission for the missionaries here to nominate a superior who should have some of the powers of a bishop, Father Carroll, having been selected, was confirmed by Pope Pius VI, 6 June, 1784, as Superior of the Missions in the thirteen United States of North America, with power to give confirmation.

This act established a hierarchy in the United States and removing the Catholic Church in the U.S. from the authority of the Vicar Apostolic of the London District.

[edit] Appointment to bishop

Carroll was appointed Bishop of Baltimore on November 6, 1789, by Pope Pius VI, becoming the first bishop in the United States. He was invested at St. Thomas Manor, in Charles County, Maryland.^[7]

[edit] First synod of Catholic priests in the United States

In 1791, Bishop Carroll convened the first synod of priests in the United States. The twenty-two priests at the meeting spoke of the dangers of mixed marriages, the Easter duty, the disposition of parish funds, priestly vocations, and the religious education of children.

[edit] Founding of Georgetown University

Carroll orchestrated the founding and early development of Georgetown University.^[8] Instruction at the school began on November 22, 1791 with future Congressman William Gaston as its first student.^[9]

[edit] Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

In 1806, Carroll oversaw the construction of America's first Catholic Cathedral, the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore, Maryland, which was designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe, architect of the United States Capitol.

[edit] Elevation to archbishop

In 1808, Pope Pius VII made Baltimore the first Catholic archdiocese, with suffragan bishops in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Bardstown, Kentucky. Three of the four new bishops were consecrated by Archbishop Carroll in the fall of 1810, after which followed two weeks of meetings in what was an unofficial provincial council. Among the resolutions coming out of these meetings was a request to the Holy See that future episcopal nominations be made by the U.S. hierarchy, not by European prelates.

[edit] Death

Carroll died in Baltimore on December 3, 1815. His remains are interred in the crypt of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which can be visited by the public.

[edit] Institutions named for him

• John Carroll University, a Jesuit University in University Heights, Ohio^[10]
• Archbishop Carroll High School (Radnor, Pennsylvania) ^[11]
• Archbishop Carroll High School (Washington, DC)^[12]
• John Carroll Catholic High School, Birmingham, Alabama
• John Carroll Catholic High School, Fort Pierce, Florida
• The John Carroll School, in Bel Air, Maryland. ^[13]

[edit] See also

• O'Carroll

[edit] External links

• Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
• Archdiocese of Baltimore
• Archdiocese of Baltimore Page About John Carroll
• Pastoral letter of 1792
• John Carroll University

[edit] References

[edit] Sources

• Louis O'Donovan (1908); "John Carroll", Catholic Encyclopedia; url accessed March 29, 2007
• Archbishop John Carroll (1790-1815); Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, url accessed March 29, 2007
• Thomas W. Spalding , CFX (1997); Most Rev. John Carroll; Archdiocese of Baltimore;, url accessed March 29, 2007

Religious titles
Preceded by None	Archbishop of Baltimore 1789 – 1815	Succeeded by Leonard Neale

v • d • e Georgetown University Undergraduate Georgetown College • School of Nursing and Health Studies • School of Business • School of Foreign Service • Qatar Graduate School of Arts and Sciences • School of Medicine • Georgetown Law • School of Continuing Studies • Public Policy Institute Research Berkley Center • Prince Alwaleed Center • Contemporary Arab Studies • Alcohol Marketing and Youth • International and Regional Studies • Woodstock Theological Center History Alumni • Presidents • Faculty • Andrew White • John Carroll • Patrick Francis Healy • Edmund A. Walsh • John J. DeGioia Campuses Georgetown, Washington, D.C. • Medical Center • Law Center • Qatar Campus • Villa Le Balze • McGhee Center Buildings Healy Hall • Lauinger Library • New South Hall • Darnall Hall • McDonough Gymnasium • Multi-Sport Field • Hospital Athletics Big East • Men's basketball • Rugby • Women's lacrosse • Verizon Center • There Goes Old Georgetown • Jack the Bulldog Student Life GUSA • The Hoya • The Georgetown Voice • The Corp • GUASFCU • GERMS • ΔΦΕ • Philodemic • Mask & Bauble • Chimes • WGTB • GUTV • GUSIF • Solidarity

v • d • e Ordinaries of the Archdiocese of Baltimore John Carroll • Leonard Neale • Ambrose Maréchal • James Whitfield • Samuel Eccleston • Francis Kenrick • Martin Spalding • James Bayley • James Gibbons • Michael Curley • Francis Keough • Lawrence Shehan • William Borders • William Keeler • Edwin O'Brien