Archdiocesan Bicentennial

Founded 1789 * Elevated 1808

List of Events

History of the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Basilica Concert Series and John Carroll Lectures

Bicentennial Photo Gallery

Bicentennial Book List

About the Anniversary

On April 8, 1808, the Holy See issued the bulls Ponitifcii muneris and Ex debito pastoralis officii that elevated Baltimore to an archdiocese and created four new dioceses at Bardstown (now Louisville), Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. A brief conferring the pallium on Bp. John Carroll (1735-1815), the nation’s first bishop, was also issued at this time. Bp. Carroll, together with his coadjutor, Bp. Leonard Neale (1746-1817), had been responsible for administering the entire country, including the territory acquired in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, since Baltimore had been established as a diocese in 1789. Acting upon Bp. Carroll’s recommendations, Fr. Benedict Flaget (1763-1850), a member of the Society of St. Sulpice, who had taught on the faculties of St. Mary’s Seminary and Georgetown University since he had arrived from France in 1792, was appointed the first bishop of Bardstown. Fr. John Cheverus (1768-1836), a French émigré who had labored on the New England missions since 1796, was appointed to Boston. Fr. Michael Egan (1761-1814), an Irish-born Franciscan who had served the Catholics of Pennsylvania since 1798, was appointed to Philadelphia. For New York, the Holy See chose Fr. Richard Concanen (1747-1810), an Irish-born Dominican who had served as Bp. Carroll’s agent in Rome.

Bp. Concanen was consecrated in Rome on April 24, 1808, and charged with delivering the bulls and pallium to Bp. Carroll. The Napoleonic Wars, which had placed an embargo on U.S. ships leaving Italy, prevented his travel to America, however, and he returned to Rome where he remained for the next two years. During the interim he corresponded with Bp. Carroll, inquiring about conditions in America and discussing plans for his new diocese. He also had a duplicate set of documents made, which he sent to his friend, Fr. Jacques André Emery, superior general of the Sulpician Fathers, to forward on to Baltimore. In the spring of 1810 Bp. Concanen obtained passage on a U.S. ship scheduled to depart out of Naples on June 17th. When he arrived in the city, he was placed under arrest by Napoleon’s troops. While being detained, he contracted yellow fever and died on June 19th. He was buried the next day in the local Dominican church. Bp. Carroll did not learn of his death until later that summer. By that time, Fr. Flaget, who had traveled to France, returned with the duplicate set of documents that Bp. Concanen had drawn up. The bishops-elect were then summoned to Baltimore for their consecrations. On Sunday, October 28, 1810, Fr. Egan was consecrated at St. Peter’s pro-Cathedral followed by the ceremony for Fr. Cheverus on Thursday, November. 1st. Three days later, on Sunday, November 4th, Fr. Flaget’s consecration was held at St. Patrick’s Church, Fells Point. The three new bishops remained in Baltimore to plan the future of the new province with Abp. Carroll. They drew up a series of regulations, publishing those concerning the laity in the “Pastoral of the Bishops in 1810.” Together with the legislation of the 1791 Synod, they served as the statutes of the U.S. Church until the calling of the First Provincial Council in 1829.

Abp. Carroll would have to wait another year to receive the pallium. Disruptions in communications had prevented the Holy See from being able to send one. It would be the British minister to the U.S. who safely transported it to Baltimore. The ceremony conferring the pallium was held at St. Peter’s pro-Cathedral on August 18, 1811.