John Carroll
- For John Carroll, the recipient of the Victoria Cross, see John Carroll (VC)
- For the university, see John Carroll University
John Carroll (January 8 1735 - December 3 1815) was born in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. He joined the Jesuits in 1753 and was ordained a priest in 1761. In 1776, the Continental Congress asked Carroll, his cousin Charles Carroll, Samuel Chase, and Benjamin Franklin to travel to Quebec and attempt to get the French Canadian population to join the revolution. Although the group was unsuccessful, it made Carroll well known to the government of the new republic.
In 1784, Carroll was made Superior of Missions in the United States of North America, establishing a hierarchy in the United States and removing the Catholic Church in the U.S. from the authority of the vicar apostolic of London. He was appointed Bishop of Baltimore on November 6 1789, by Pope Pius VI, becoming the first bishop in the United States. In 1791 Bishop Carroll convened the first synod of priests in the U.S. He became the first Roman Catholic archbishop in the US in 1808 when Baltimore was elevated to an archdiocese.
Archbishop Carroll founded Georgetown University, a Catholic university in Georgetown, Washington, DC. It is the oldest Catholic university in the United States of America, and the first Jesuit one, having been founded on January 23, 1789. Today, it is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities. The founding date is the subject of some controversy, as construction on the buildings began in 1788, the first student was admitted in 1791, and classes commenced in early 1792. The official date is that of when the Jesuit order acquired the title to the land that became the core of the campus.
He was involved in the controversial ideas which were labled as Americanism (Heresy) John Carroll University is named in his honor.
External link
- The Catholic Encyclopedia article on John Carroll (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03381b.htm)
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