John Carroll

Biography

John Carroll (1735-1815) was the first Catholic Archbishop of the United States, serving as a spiritual leader during the nation's founding era. A member of the prominent Carroll family of Maryland, he was instrumental in establishing the institutional framework for the Catholic Church in America and served as the first bishop of Baltimore.

Carroll's distinguished career spanned the American Revolution and the early decades of the republic, during which he worked to secure religious freedom and establish Catholic institutions in the new nation. He was buried in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore, a fitting resting place for this pioneering ecclesiastical leader.