John Carroll (January 8, 1735-December 3, 1815) was the first Roman Catholic bishop and archbishop in the United States, based out of the Archdiocese of Baltimore. John Carroll grew up in Maryland, went to Europe to become a priest, and upon his return, since there was no Catholic Church in the entire State, he started one on his families farm. Protestants at the time did not think Catholics could be both loyal to the Pope and loyal to the American cause.
John Carroll founded Georgetown University, the oldest Catholic university in the United States, and St. John the Evangelist Parish of Rock Creek. His older brother Daniel Carroll became one of only five men to sign both the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution of the United States. His cousin Charles Carroll of Carrollton, was the only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence and the first United States Senator from Maryland. Another cousin, Daniel Carroll of Duddington, was one of two Catholics to sign the U.S. Constitution. He provided much of the land where the U.S. Capitol is built and was elected a U.S. Congressman. Carroll's nephew, Robert Brent, was the first mayor of Washington, D.C., being reappointed by Jefferson and Madison.
In 1776, at the request of the Continental Congress, John Carroll accompanied Charles Carroll, Samuel Chase, and Benjamin Franklin to Quebec in an attempt to persuade Catholic French Canadians to join the revolution.
Thought the mission was unsuccessful, John Carroll's reputation led to several States giving Catholics equality.
Bishop John Carroll wrote in his Address to the Roman Catholics of the United States of America, 1784:
<Freedom and independence, acquired by...the mingled blood of Protestant and Catholic fellow-citizens, should be equally enjoyed by all.> 1735JC001
Bishop Carroll wrote to John Fenno of The Gazette of the United States, June 10, 1789:
<Their blood flowed as freely (in proportion to their numbers) to cement the fabric of independence as that of any of their fellow-citizens. They concurred with perhaps greater unanimity than any other body of men, in recommending and promoting that government, from whose influence America anticipates all the blessings of justice, peace, plenty, good order and civil and religious liberty.> 1735JC002
Bishop John Carroll wrote to Cardinal Borromeo at the Vatican, June 1783:
<You are not ignorant that in these United States our religious system has undergone a revolution, if possible, more extraordinary than our political one. In all of them free toleration is allowed to Christians of every denomination; and particularly in the States of Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, a communication of all civil rights, without distinction or diminution, is extended to those of our religion. This is a blessing and advantage which it is our duty to preserve and improve, with the utmost prudence, by demeaning ourselves on all occasions as subjects zealously attached to our government and avoiding to give any jealousies on account of any dependence on foreign jurisdictions more than that which is essential to our religion, an acknowledgment of the Pope’s spiritual supremacy over the whole Christian world.> 1735JC003
In 1783, John Carroll continued his correspondence with Cardinal Borromeo:
<An immense field is opened to the zeal of apostolical men. Universal toleration throughout this immense country, and innumerable R. Cats. going & ready to go into the new regions bordering on the Mississippi, perhaps the finest in the world, & impatiently clamorous for clergymen to attend them.> 1735JC004
On June 9, 1784, the Catholic Church in the United States was organized and Rev. John Carroll was appointed superior of the missions in all thirteen of the United States.
In 1785, John Carroll wrote to Cardinal Antonelli:
<I truly believe that such solid foundations of Religion can be laid in these American-States that the most flourishing portion of the Church, with great comfort to the Holy See, may one day be found here.> 1735JC005
On January 23, 1789, he founded Georgetown University and the nation's first Catholic seminary. He began the parochial school system and persuaded Elizabeth Seton to start a girls' school in Baltimore.
In 1789, the nation's first Catholic diocese was founded in Baltimore and Rev. John Carroll was appointed the first Catholic Bishop in the United States.
In 1789, Bishop John Carroll wrote in a National Gazette article:
<The establishment of the American empire was not the work of this or that religion, but arose from a generous exertion of all her citizens to redress their wrongs, to assert their rights, and lay its foundations on the soundest principles of justice and equal liberty...An earnest regard to preserve inviolate forever, in our new empire, the great principle of religious freedom.> 1735JC006
In late 1789, the American Catholic community sent George Washington a letter congratulating him on his election as President. The letter was signed by Bishop-elect John Carroll, Charles Carroll, Daniel Carroll, Dominick Lynch of New York, and Thomas FitzSimons of Philadelphia:
<This prospect of national prosperity is peculiarly pleasing to us, on another account; because, whilst our country presenes her freedom and independence, we shall have a well founded title to claim from her justice, the equal rights of citizenship, as the price of our blood spilt under your eyes, and of our common exertions for her defense, under your auspicious conduct-rights rendered more dear to us by remembrance of former hardships.> 1735JC007
George Washington replied, March 15, 1790, in an open letter titled, "To the Roman Catholics in the United States":
<Gentlemen: While I now receive with much satisfaction your congratulations on my being called, by an unanimous vote, to the first station in my country; I cannot but duly notice your politeness in offering an apology for the unavoidable delay. As that delay has given you an opportunity of realizing, instead of anticipating, the benefits of the general government, you will do me the justice to believe, that your testimony of the increase of the public prosperity, enhances the pleasure which I should otherwise have experienced from your affectionate address.
I feel that my conduct, in war and in peace, has met with more general approbation than could reasonably have been expected and I find myself disposed to consider that fortunate circumstance, in a great degree, resulting from the able support and extraordinary candor of my fellow-citizens of all denominations.
The prospect of national prosperity now before us is truly animating, and ought to excite the exertions of all good men to establish and secure the happiness of their country, in the permanent duration of its freedom and independence. America, under the smiles of a Divine Providence, the protection of a good government, and the cultivation of manners, morals, and piety, cannot fail of attaining an uncommon degree of eminence, in literature, commerce, agriculture, improvements at home and respectability abroad.
As mankind become more liberal they will be more apt to allow that all those who conduct themselves as worthy members of the community are equally entitled to the protection of civil government. I hope ever to see America among the foremost nations in examples of justice and liberality. And I presume that your fellow-citizens will not forget the patriotic part which you took in the accomplishment of their Revolution, and the establishment of their government; or the important assistance which they received from a nation in which the Roman Catholic faith is professed.
I thank you, gentlemen, for your kind concern for me. While my life and my health shall continue, in whatever situation I may be, it shall be my constant endeavor to justify the favorable sentiments which you are pleased to express of my conduct. And may the members of your society in America, animated alone by the pure spirit of Christianity, and still conducting themselves as the faithful subjects of our free government, enjoy every temporal and spiritual felicity. G. Washington.> 1735JC008
In 1790, Bishop John Carroll wrote a report from Catholic clergy in America to Rome:
<In 1776, American Independence was declared, and a revolution effected, not only in political affairs, but also in those relating to Religion. For while the thirteen provinces of North America rejected the yoke of England, they proclaimed, at the same time, freedom of conscience, and the right of worshiping the Almighty, according to the spirit of the religion to which each one should belong.
Before this great event, the Catholic faith had penetrated two provinces only, Maryland and Pennsylvania. In all the others the laws against Catholics were in force. Any priest coming from foreign parts, was subject to the penalty of death; all who professed the Catholic faith, were not merely excluded from offices of government, but hardly could be tolerated in a private capacity....
By the Declaration of Independence, every difficulty was removed: the Catholics were placed on a level with their fellow-Christians, and every political disqualification was done away.> 1735JC009
Father Charles Plowden gave the sermon at John Carroll's consecration as bishop, August 15, 1790:
<Although this great event may appear to us to have been the work, the sport, of human passion, yet the earliest and most precious fruit of it has been the extension of the kingdom of Christ, the propagation of the Catholic religion, which hitherto fettered by restraining laws, is now enlarged from bondage and is left at liberty to exert the full energy of divine truth.> 1735JC010
In 1806, John Carroll presided over the construction of the first cathedral in the United States, Cathedral of the Assumption, in Baltimore, Maryland, designed by the architect of the U.S. Capitol, Benjamin Henry Latrobe.
John Carroll wrote the Papal Nuncio in Paris:
<We must use extreme circumspection in order not to give pretexts to the enemies of Religion to deprive us of our actual rights. It is very important that the prejudices entertained for so long against Catholics be eradicated.
Above all, the opinion which several hold that our faith demands a subjection to His Holiness incompatible with the independence of a sovereign state, quite false as it is, cannot help giving us continual anxiety.
To dissipate these prejudices it will take time, the protection of divine Providence, and the experience they will have of our devotion to the nation and to its sovereignty. The wisdom of the Holy See cannot fail to contribute to it.
Your excellency could, and I dare in the name of the Catholics [in America] beg you to assure the Apostolic See that nowhere in the world has its children more attached to its doctrine or more filled with respect for all its decisions.> 1735JC011
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American Quotations by William J. Federer, 2024, All Rights Reserved, Permission granted to use with acknowledgement.
Endnotes:
1735JC001. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). John Carroll, Address to the Roman Catholics of the United States of America, 1784:
1735JC002. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). John Carroll, to John Fenno of The Gazette of the United States, June 10, 1789.
1735JC003. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). John Carroll to Cardinal Borromeo at the Vatican, June 1783. https://crisismagazine.com/opinion/faith-of-our-fathers
1735JC004. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). John Carroll to Cardinal Borromeo at the Vatican, 1783. https://crisismagazine.com/opinion/faith-of-our-fathers
1735JC005. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). John Carroll to Cardinal Antonelli, 1785. https://crisismagazine.com/opinion/faith-of-our-fathers
1735JC006. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). John Carroll wrote in a National Gazette, 1789.
1735JC007. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Bishop-elect John Carroll, Charles Carroll, Daniel Carroll, Dominick Lynch of New York, and Thomas FitzSimons of Philadelphia:, representing the American Catholic community, 1789, to President George Washington.
1735JC008. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). John Carroll. March 15, 1790, reply from President George Washington in an open letter to Catholics in the United States.
1735JC009. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). John Carroll. 1790, and Catholic clergy in America in a report to Rome.
1735JC010 William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). John Carroll. Father Charles Plowden's sermon at John Carroll's consecration as bishop, August 15, 1790:
1735JC011 William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). John Carroll to Papal Nuncio in Paris.