Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore: Encyclopedia II - Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore - Prelature

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore - Prelature

The Archdiocese of Baltimore is led by the prelature of the Archbishop of Baltimore, who is generally created a cardinal in a papal consistory. The archbishop is assisted by a corps of auxiliary bishops overseeing the administration of the archdiocese as part of a larger curia. Fourteen people have served as Archbishop of Baltimore. The current archbishop is William Henry Cardinal Keeler.

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore - Cathedrals

The archbishop is concurrently the pastor of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen. The basilica is considered the motherchurch of the United States.

The archdiocese is one of only two United States dioceses that has two churches serving as Roman Catholic cathedrals within the same city — the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace and Co-Cathedral of Saint Theresa of the Child Jesus in the Diocese of Honolulu share the distinction. Other dioceses with two cathedrals have their churches in separate cities.

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore - Archbishops of Baltimore

• John Carroll, SJ (1784-1815)
• Leonard Neale, SJ (1815-1817)
• Ambrose Maréchal, PSS (1817-1828)
• James Whitfield (1828-1834)
• Samuel Eccleston, PSS (1834-1851)
• Francis Patrick Kenrick (1851-1863)
• Martin John Spalding (1864-1872)
• James Roosevelt Bayley (1872-1877)
• James Cardinal Gibbons (1877-1921)
• Michael Joseph Curley (1921-1947)
• Francis Patrick Keough (1947-1961)
• Lawrence Joseph Cardinal Shehan (1961-1984)
• William Donald Borders (1974-1989)
• William Henry Cardinal Keeler (1989-Present)

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Prelature", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki