John Carroll -
The First Roman Catholic Bishop in the United States

By Michael Doyle
In Irelands Own, No. 4826

John Carroll (1735-1815) was birn in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on August 5th 1735. Carroll was the son of an important Maryland family with Irish connections [his family were from south Offaly]

Due to the fact that there were no schools for the training of priests in the American colonies, he was sent to Europe for his education. He went first of all to St. Omer in France, became a Jesuit in 1753, studied at Liege, Belgium and was ordained in 1769. Fr. Carroll then taught in Flanders for four years, was chaplain to Lord Arundel in England before returning to Maryland in 1774 just before the onset of the American fight for freedom.

One of the first things Fr. Carroll did when he returned was to build a mission church at hist mother's house in Rock Creek which served the Catholic population of the area and of nearby Virginia. Fr. Carroll did not take an active part in the American fight for independence, although at the request of the Continental Congress, he took part in a diplomatic mission to Canada where an unsuccessful attempt was made to secure help, or neutrality, of French Canadian catholics. On this mission, John Carroll met the great Benjamin Franklin, a future President of the United States.

In 1783, John Carroll and a number of priests came together and appealed to Rome for permission to continue their mission work and to work under a superior chosen from among them. This led to John Carroll's appointment as superior of the mission of the thirteen States, with the power to confirm. During 1784 he wrote "An Address to the Roman Catholics of the United States of North America" which was a reply to the anti-Catholic views of a certain Charles Wharton. His pamphlet was the first work published by an American Catholic in the United States.

Fr. Carroll took up residence in Baltimore and became a popular figure, head of the Library Company and of the trustees of Baltimore College, and a trustee of St. John's College, Annapolis. In 1789, he was appointed the first American Bishop and the first See was established in Baltimore. In the year of 1781, Bishop Carroll founded the Sulpician Seminary in Baltimore.

He also encouraged Catholic religious orders of every kind to establish branches in the United States, and, with the help of George Washington, secured federal funds for Catholic missionaries to the Indians of the West.

In 1806, Bishop Carroll laid the cornerstone of Baltimore Cathedral, having helped a Mr. Latroke in the design of the building. Following the erection of four new Sees (Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Bardstown) in 1808, John Carroll was made Archbishop in 1811.

During his years as head of the U.S. church, the Catholic population of the country grew from about 25,000 to 200,000. Archbishop Carroll had the very difficult task of adjusting to an ancient faith a new political order, which he achieved with great skill. His devotion to the American principles, such as religious freedom and seperation of Church and State, enabled him to win the confidence of Catholics and Protestants alike. Indeed, Archbishop Carroll laid the foundation of the Catholic Church in America which is still an influence for the good in that bastion of democracy.

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