The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington is home to the patronal church of the United States, the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese 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 only pontifical university in the United States, the Catholic University of America. It is also home to the patronal church of the nation, the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

Prelature

The prelate of the Archdiocese of Washington is an archbishop, the pastor of the archdiocesan motherchurch, the Cathedral of Saint Matthew the Apostle in the City of Washington. The Archbishop of Washington concurrently serves as metropolitan bishop of the Roman Catholic Metropolitan Province of Washington. Its sole suffragan is the Diocese of Saint Thomas in the United States Virgin Islands.

The current Archbishop of Washington is Theodore Cardinal McCarrick, who has held that post since 2000.

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 Vatican 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.

Resources

• Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington
• Cathedral of Saint Matthew the Apostle
• Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
• Catholic Hierarchy Profile of the Archdiocese of Washington