Who is John Carroll?

At the beginning of Advent, we have begun singing the Mass for John Carroll, and perhaps you have wondered: who IS John Carroll? We're glad you asked!

The simplest response could be that he was a Jesuit priest and the first bishop of Baltimore. Yet he was so much more. 

John Carroll made up part of the delegation with Benjamin Franklin which sought French support during the American Revolution. After the revolution, he was instrumental in the formation of Georgetown University and in the newly formed United States, which lacked a church hierarchy, he was appointed by the Vatican as ’Superior of Missions’ and later Apostolic Prefect for the US, making him, in essence, the head of the US Church and giving him many of the rights and responsibilities of a Bishop. In 1789, the first diocese in the country was formed in Baltimore, and John Carroll was appointed bishop - and later archbishop - by Pope Pius VI after the priests of Maryland voted to recommend him as such to the Vatican.

 

His life was marked by dedication to serving and growing the American church, advocating for liturgical reform and innovation by use of the vernacular, as well as the fostering of ecumenism and religious freedom in the United States.