### WASHINGTON, ARCHDIOCESE OF
Washington, archdiocese and city in the District of Columbia (United States of America). The archdiocese covers an area of 2104 square miles with a total population of 1,224,314, of whom 174,602 are Catholics; it has 209 diocesan priests, 74 religious priests, 84 parishes, 142 chapels, 49 missions, 34 female congregations (1,231 sisters), 24 scholastic institutes (791 religious), 1 diocesan seminary (169 seminarians), 5 universities, 3 orphanages, and 2 hospitals.
The Archdiocese of Washington was erected by Pope Pius XII with the apostolic constitution *Suprema ecclesiastica potestatis* of July 21, 1939. The reasons for elevating Washington to the dignity of an archiepiscopal see are given in the constitution: Washington is the seat of the civil government, it has numerous Catholic institutions, including the famous university and colleges, as well as the increase in the city’s population in recent years. The Pope also notes that 1939 marks the 150th anniversary of Washington as the capital of the Republic.
The archdiocese, without suffragan sees, comprises the entire territory of the District of Columbia and five counties in the State of Maryland. It was first known as the Archdiocese of Baltimore-Washington, and Archbishop Curley of Baltimore became archbishop of both sees. Upon his death in 1947, Washington was completely separated from Baltimore. The Jesuit Father Andrew White was the first priest to visit the territory in 1639. The oldest church is Holy Trinity in Georgetown. Washington has been the seat of the Apostolic Delegation since 1893.
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### THE CENTER OF STUDIES
Washington has five universities: two Catholic, Georgetown and the Catholic University of America, and three Protestant or denominational: George Washington University (1821, of the Baptist Church: Columbian College) for adults who already have stable employment; Howard University (1867) for African Americans; and American University (1891) of the Methodist Church.
1. **Catholic University of America.** — Conceived by the Archbishop of Baltimore, M. J. Spalding (1865), it was decided at the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore (November-December 1884); canonically erected by Leo XIII (1889), who granted it the privilege of conferring academic degrees, and solemnly inaugurated on November 13 of the same year. In 1891, on land donated by the Rev. James McMahon, McMahon Hall was built for the schools of Philosophy, Letters and Sciences (1895), Social Sciences (1895), and Law (1898). With other donations, chairs, laboratories, libraries, residences for lay students and even for professors, and scholarships were established. In 1923, the School of Canon Law was made autonomous. Today, there are three faculties of ecclesiastical studies (Theology, Canon Law, Philosophy) and four of civil studies (Arts and Sciences, Law, Engineering, Social Work). Among the various scientific institutes is the Riccobono Institute for Roman Law. The Library possesses about 400,000 volumes. The Sulpicians direct the Caldwell Hall, a residence for students of the secular clergy (Sulpician Seminary). Civil recognition was obtained in 1887, reconfirmed and expanded by the federal government on April 3, 1928. The first Statutes (1889) were amended in 1926; then conformed to the apostolic constitution *Deus scientiarum Dominus* (q.v.) and approved on March 7, 1937. According to these latest Statutes, the government of the University belongs to the entire episcopate of the United States and is exercised, in its name, by a Committee or Board of Administration composed of cardinals, metropolitans, the Grand Chancellor, the Rector, and a certain number of lay and clerical personalities (up to 10). The University exerts its beneficial influence on colleges and seminaries through the system of "affiliation" and summer courses held in various locations; it contributes to culture through periodicals (*The Catholic University Bulletin*; *The Catholic Historical Review*; *The Catholic Educational Review*; *The American Ecclesiastical Review*) and collections (*The Catholic University of America Patristic Studies*; *Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Latin*); and collaborates with the Catholic University of Louvain on the *Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium*.
2. **Georgetown University.** — It is the oldest Catholic university institute in the United States, and is due to the first Archbishop of Baltimore, John Carroll (q.v.), a Jesuit missionary in Maryland, who (c. 1785) proposed to his confreres, incardinated in the diocese after the suppression of the Society, the establishment of a college in Georgetown. Begun in 1788, its founding date is considered January 23, 1789. With the restoration of the Society of Jesus in Maryland, Georgetown College officially passed to the Society, which still directs it today. On March 1, 1815, it obtained from Congress the power to confer academic degrees; on March 3, 1833, from the Holy See, the privilege of conferring degrees in Philosophy and Theology as well. The renowned School of Medicine was established in 1851; the School of Law in 1870; the University Hospital in 1898 and the School of Nursing in 1903; the School of Dentistry in 1901, the School of Foreign Service in 1919, the Institute of Chemical-Medical Research in 1931, and the Seismological Observatory in 1909. Currently, the University has about 5,000 students; its ecclesiastical faculties, reserved for students of the Society, are located respectively in Woodstock (for Theology) and temporarily in Plattsburg (for Philosophy).
3. **Theological Faculty of the "Immaculate Conception."** — For theology students of the Dominican Province. The Studium generale, originally organized in the convent of St. Joseph in Somerset, Ohio, was later transferred to Washington, where the convent of the Immaculate Conception began (1903-1905). In 1941, the Studium obtained from the Holy See the privilege of the theological faculty, reserved for the students of the Order. The Library (about 40,000 volumes), united with the historical archives of the Dominicans in the United States, is among the most valuable for works of theology and related disciplines. The professors publish the journal *The Thomist*, organize summer theological courses for religious, and hold public lectures of an apologetic nature.
4. **Various Institutes of Culture.** — In addition to the universities, Washington has numerous other important cultural institutions. Libraries: the Library of Congress (1800) with over 5 million volumes, as well as pamphlets, incunabula, manuscripts, musical scores, geographical maps, etc.; the Henry Clay Folger Library, with the largest collection of works relating to Shakespeare. *Museums and Art Galleries*; *Associations*, Academies, and Scientific Societies, including the National Academy (1863), the Smithsonian Institution (1846) with archaeological and ethnological collections, an astrophysics observatory, the collection of manuscripts "Ch. L. Freer" (q.v.); the Institution of Washington (1902), founded by Andrew Carnegie to promote scientific research, which gives rise to important institutions such as the Mount Wilson Astronomical Observatory (California, 1904). Notable also are the American Catholic Historical Association (1919) and the Dante Society, founded by the Catholic University of Washington. — See t.V. CLAVI.