John Carroll (archbishop)
John Carroll SJ (January 8, 1735 – December 3, 1815[1]) was an American Catholic prelate who served as the first Bishop of Baltimore, the first diocese in the new United States. He later became the first Archbishop of Baltimore. Until 1808, Carroll administered the entire U.S. Catholic Church. He was a member of the Society of Jesus until its suppression in 1759.
"John Carroll (bishop)" redirects here. For other bishops with the name, see John Carroll (disambiguation) § Religion.
John Carroll
November 6, 1789
December 12, 1790
December 3, 1815
Diocese erected
February 14, 1761
August 15, 1790
by Charles Walmesley
January 8, 1735
December 3, 1815 (aged 80)
Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Ne derelinquas nos domine deus noster
(Forsake us not, O Lord, my God, stay not far from me)
February 14, 1761
February 14, 1761
August 15, 1790
December 7, 1800
December 7, 1800
October 28, 1810
November 1, 1810
November 4, 1810
none
Born to an aristocratic family in the colonial-era Province of Maryland, Carroll spent most of his early years as a priest in Europe, teaching and serving as a chaplain. After returning to Maryland in 1773, he started organizing the Catholic Church in America with a small cadre of priests. The Vatican appointed him to several roles as leader of the American Catholic hierarchy, culminating in his appointment as archbishop.
Carroll founded Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and St. John the Evangelist Parish in Silver Spring, Maryland, the first secular parish in the country.
Carroll was born on January 8, 1735, in Upper Marlborough, Maryland in the colonial-era Province of Maryland, to Daniel Carroll I and Eleanor Darnall Carroll at the Carroll family plantation.[2][a] [5][6] John Carroll grew up on the plantation.[7]
John Carroll was home-schooled by Eleanor Carroll, then sent to a Catholic school in Bohemia Manor, Maryland. As the Province of Maryland did not allow Catholic education, the school was run secretly by the Jesuit Reverend Thomas Poulton. When Carroll reached age 13, his family sent him and his cousin Charles to the College of St. Omer in the Artois region of France. The school was a popular destination for the education of boys from wealthy Catholic families in Maryland.[10]
Death[edit]
John Carroll died in Baltimore on December 3, 1815.[35] His remains are interred in the crypt of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary..[34]
Viewpoints[edit]
Vernacular liturgy[edit]
During this period, the scriptures were read in Latin during masses and Catholics had limited access to bible translations. Carroll strongly believed that Catholics should be able to read and hear the scriptures in English or whatever vernacular language they used. He insisted that priests perform liturgical readings in the vernacular. He was a tireless promoter of the Carey Bible, an edition of the English-language Douay-Rheims translation that was published in sections. He encouraged clergy and laity to purchase subscriptions to this bible so that they could read the scriptures.[15]
As both superior of the missions and bishop, Carroll promoted the use of vernacular languages in the liturgy, but was never able to gain the support of the Vatican. In 1787, he wrote:
