Did You Know?

Among them is a little-known 1790 exchange between John Carroll, the first Catholic bishop in the United States, and President George Washington — that helped answer a fundamental question facing the young republic: Could Catholics, long viewed with suspicion under British rule, truly become equal American citizens?

As Washington traveled through the states during his first year in office, letters poured in from religious congregations, civic organizations and local communities seeking reassurance about their place in the new federal government. Among them was a March 1790 letter from John Carroll, who became the first Catholic bishop in the United States after the Vatican established the nation’s first diocese in Baltimore in 1789, and other Catholic leaders asking whether Catholics — long held in contempt under British rule — would be fully included in the new republic. Catholics had been barred from holding office in many places, prevented from voting, required to swear oaths rejecting papal authority and, in some colonies, prohibited from openly practicing their faith.

Michael Breidenbach, Dean of the Honors College at Ave Maria University, said the exchange also reminds Americans that Catholics were not merely beneficiaries of the nation's founding — they helped shape it: "As America approaches its 250th anniversary, there is a heated debate about whether the nation's foundation had Protestant, secular or other roots. . .Often missing from these conversations are the Catholic contributions to the American founding." Carroll's letter stood out because it sought reassurance that Catholics would be fully included in the new republic. This passage captured the Catholics' appeal: "Whilst our country preserves her freedom and independence, we shall have a well-founded title to claim from her justice equal rights of citizenship as the price of our blood spilt under your eyes and of our common exertions for her defense." The words reminded Washington that Catholics had fought beside him throughout the Revolutionary War.

Carroll was joined by several of the young Nation's most prominent Catholic leaders. The address was signed by his cousin Charles Carroll of Carrollton — the only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence — as well as his relative Daniel Carroll, a signer of the U.S. Constitution, and Congressman Thomas FitzSimons of Pennsylvania. Together, they argued that American Catholics had earned the same rights of citizenship through their contributions to the Revolutionary War and the Nation's founding. "American Catholics' remarkable transformation — from being suspected subjects of a Protestant king to being trusted citizens of a new republic — is wonderfully illustrated in Bishop John Carroll's 1790 letter to George Washington," said Breidenbach. who is also the author of the book "Our Dear-Bought Liberty: Catholics and Religious Toleration in Early America".

DON’T FORGET – the “Patriotic Pipes Organ Concert” this Friday evening here at St. Andrew’s at 7:00 PM – showing off the newly refurbished 1949 Moeller pipe organ – and thrilling you with great music honoring the 4th of July!