Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington

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The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington is a particular church of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. It is comprised of the District of Columbia and Calvert, Charles, Montgomery, Prince George's and Saint Mary's Counties in the state of Maryland.

The Archdiocese of Washington is home to the The Catholic University of America, the national Catholic university operated by the United States bishops. It is also home to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, a prominent minor basilica dedicated to the nation's patron saint.

Contents

1 Prelature
2 History
3 Ordinaries
4 Resources

Prelature

The ordinary of the Archdiocese of Washington is an archbishop whose episcopal see is located at St. Matthew's Cathedral in the City of Washington. The Archbishop of Washington concurrently serves as metropolitan of the Ecclesiastical Province of Washington. Its sole suffragan bishop is the Diocese of Saint Thomas in the United States Virgin Islands.

The first Archbishop of Washington was Michael Joseph Curley in 1939. The current Archbishop is the Most Reverend Donald Wuerl who was previously the Bishop of Pittsburgh. His predecessor was Theodore Cardinal McCarrick whose resignation upon reaching the age limit was accepted on May 16, 2006 by Pope Benedict XVI

History

The Archdiocese of Washington often prides itself in sharing the fact that the Society of Jesus celebrated the first Mass in the United States on its shores in 1634. During the colonial era however, Catholics would remain a persecuted people suffering the wrath of oppression allowed by local penal laws.

Upon the establishment of the United States by its founding fathers, the Holy See appointed a Jesuit, John Carroll, to be the first bishop of the newly created diocese which would later become the Archdiocese of Baltimore. The Prefecture Apostolic of the United States, as the entity was known then, had jurisdiction over all American Catholics including present-day City of Washington.

In 1939, Pope Pius XII separated the City of Washington from the Archdiocese of Baltimore and created the joint Archdiocese of Baltimore-Washington. The process of separation was officially concluded on November 15, 1947. The independent Archdiocese of Washington was established on October 12, 1965, becoming a metropolitan see of its own.

Ordinaries

Michael Joseph Curley (1939–1947)
Patrick Cardinal O'Boyle (1947–1973)
William Wakefield Cardinal Baum (1973–1980)
James Cardinal Hickey (1980–2000)
Theodore Cardinal McCarrick (2000–2006)
Donald Wuerl (2006–present)

Resources

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