Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore
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The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore is a particular church of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. The archdiocese is comprised of the City of Baltimore as well as Allegany, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Frederick, Garrett, Harford, Howard, and Washington Counties in Maryland. The Archdiocese of Baltimore is the oldest diocese in the nation, and the Holy See granted the archdiocese the right of precedence in the United States at liturgies, meetings, and councils on August 15, 1859. 1 However, the archdiocese does not enjoy primatial status.
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History
Originally called the Apostolic Prefecture of the United States, the ecclesiastical territory was established on November 26, 1784. The apostolic prefecture was elevated to become the Diocese of Baltimore on November 6, 1789. It was raised to the dignity of an archdiocese on April 8, 1808. Due to the exponential growth of the Roman Catholic Church in the region, the see was renamed to become the Archdiocese of Baltimore-Washington on July 22, 1939. The Archdiocese of Washington became an independent entity on November 15, 1947 creating the present-day Archdiocese of Baltimore.
Prelature
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The Archdiocese of Baltimore is led by the prelature of the Archbishop of Baltimore, who is generally created cardinals in consistory by the popes. The archbishop is assisted by a corps of auxiliary bishops overseeing the administration of the archdiocese as part of a larger curia. Fourteen people have served as Archbishop of Baltimore. The current archbishop is William Henry Cardinal Keeler.
Cathedrals
The archbishop is concurrently the pastor of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen. The basilica is considered the motherchurch of the United States.
The archdiocese is one of only two United States dioceses that has two churches serving as Roman Catholic cathedrals within the same city — the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace and Co-Cathedral of Saint Theresa of the Child Jesus in the Diocese of Honolulu share the distinction. Other dioceses with two cathedrals have their churches in separate cities.
Archbishops of Baltimore
- John Carroll, SJ (1784-1815)
- Leonard Neale, SJ (1815-1817)
- Ambrose Maréchal, PSS (1817-1828)
- James Whitfield (1828-1834)
- Samuel Eccleston, PSS (1834-1851)
- Francis Patrick Kenrick (1851-1863)
- Martin John Spalding (1864-1872)
- James Roosevelt Bayley (1872-1877)
- James Cardinal Gibbons (1877-1921)
- Michael Joseph Curley (1921-1947)
- Francis Patrick Keough (1947-1961)
- Lawrence Joseph Cardinal Shehan (1961-1984)
- William Donald Borders (1974-1989)
- William Henry Cardinal Keeler (1989-Present)
References
- Catholic Encyclopedia Article on Precedence (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12371c.htm)
External links
- Archdiocese of Baltimore Website http://www.archbalt.org/