Washington, Archdiocese of

WASHINGTON, ARCHDIOCESE OF. - Archdiocese and city in the District of Columbia (United States of America). W. covers an area of 2,104 square miles with a total population of 1,224,314 inhabitants, of whom 174,602 are Catholics; it has 209 diocesan priests, 74 religious, 84 parishes, 142 chapels, 49 missions, 34 female congregations (1,231 nuns), 24 scholasticates (791 religious), 1 diocesan seminary (169 seminarians), 5 universities, 3 orphanages, 2 hospitals.

The archdiocese of W. was erected by Pope Pius XII with the apostolic constitution Supremae ecclesiasticae potestatis of 21 July 1939. The reasons for the elevation of W. to the dignity of archiepiscopal see are given by the constitution: W. is the seat of the civil government, the numerous Catholic institutions, among them the celebrated university and colleges, as well as the increase in the city's population in recent years. The Pope also mentions that 1939 marks the 150th anniversary of W. as capital of the Republic.

The archdiocese, without suffragans, which comprises the entire territory of the District of Columbia and 5 counties in the State of Maryland, was first known under the name of archdiocese of Baltimore-W., and Msgr. Curly, archbishop of Baltimore, became archbishop of the two sees, but upon his death, in 1947, W. was completely separated from Baltimore. The Jesuit Father Andrew White was the first priest to visit the territory in 1639. The oldest church is that of Holy Trinity in Georgetown. W. has been the seat of the apostolic delegation since 1893.

Gastone Carrière

THE CENTER OF STUDIES

W. has 5 universities: two Catholic, "Georgetown" and "Catholic University," and three Protestant or non-denominational: "George Washington University" (1821, of the Baptist Church: Columbian College) for adults who already have steady employment; "Howard University" (1867) for Negroes; "American University" (1891) of the Methodist Church.

1. Catholic University

Conceived by the Archbishop of Baltimore, M. J. Spalding (1865), it was decided upon at the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore (Nov.-Dec. 1884); canonically erected by Leo XIII (1889), who granted it the privilege of conferring academic degrees, and solemnly inaugurated on Nov. 13 of the same year. In 1891, on land donated by the Rev. James Mc Mahon, "Mc Mahon Hall" was built for the schools of Philosophy, Letters and Sciences (1895), Social Sciences (1895), Law (1898). With other donations, chairs, laboratories, libraries, residences for lay students and also for professors, and scholarships were established. In 1923 the School of Canon Law was made autonomous. Today there are 3 Faculties of ecclesiastical studies (Theology, Canon Law, Philosophy) and 4 of civil studies (Arts and Sciences, Law, Engineering, Social Work). Among the various scientific Institutes there is the Riccobono Institute for Roman law. The Library holds ca. 400,000 vols. The Sulpicians direct "Caldwell Hall," a residence for students of the secular clergy (Sulpician Seminary). It received civil recognition in 1887, reconfirmed and expanded by the federal government on Apr. 3, 1928. The first Constitutions (1889) were amended in 1926; later conformed to the apostolic constitution Deus scientiarum Dominus (v.) and approved on March 7, 1937. According to these latest Statutes, the governance of the University belongs to the entire episcopate of the United States and is exercised, in its name, by a Committee or Board of trustees that includes the cardinals, the metropolitans, the grand chancellor, the rector and a certain number of figures (at most 10) from the clergy and the laity. The University exercises its beneficial influence on Colleges and Seminaries through the system of "affiliation," and through summer courses held in various locations; it contributes to culture with 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 it collaborates with the Catholic University of Louvain on the Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium.

2. Georgetown University

It is the oldest Catholic university institution in the United States, and it is owed to the first Archbishop of Baltimore, John Carroll (v.), formerly a Jesuit missionary in Maryland, who (around 1785) proposed to his confreres, incardinated into the diocese because of the suppression of the Order, the erection of a College at Georgetown. Begun in 1788, its founding date is considered to be Jan. 23, 1789. Once the Society of Jesus was reestablished in Maryland, "Georgetown College" passed officially to the Society, which still retains its direction. On March 1, 1815 it obtained from Congress the power to confer academic degrees; on March 30, 1833, from the Holy See, the privilege of conferring degrees also in Philosophy and Theology. The Faculty of medicine, very renowned, was established in 1851; that of Law in 1870; the university Hospital in 1898 and the School of Nursing in 1903; the Faculty 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. At present the University has ca. 5000 students; its ecclesiastical Faculties, reserved for students of the Society, are located respectively at Woodstock (for Theology) and, temporarily, at Plattsburg (for Philosophy).

3. Theological Faculty of the "Immaculate Conception." - For the theology students of the Dominican Province. The "Studium generale," first organized in the convent of St. Joseph at Somerset (Ohio), was later transferred to W., where the convent of the Immaculate Conception was begun, near the Catholic University (1903-1905). In 1921 the "Studium" obtained from the Holy See the privilege of a theological Faculty, reserved for members of the Order. The Library (ca. 40,000 vols.), together with the historical Archive 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 women and public lecture courses of an apologetic character.

4. Various cultural Institutes

Besides the Universities, W. has numerous other very important cultural institutions. a) Libraries: Library of Congress (1800) with over 5 million vols., and moreover pamphlets, incunabula, manuscripts, musical scores, geographical maps, etc.; the Henry Clay Folger Library, with the largest collection of works concerning Shakespeare. b) Museums and art Galleries; c) Associations, Academies and scientific Societies, among them the National Academy (1863), the Smithsonian Institution (1846) with archaeological and ichthyological collections, an astrophysics observatory, the "Ch. L. Freer" collection of mss. (v.); the Institution of W. (1902), founded by Andrew Carnegie to promote scientific research, which gives rise to important institutions, such as the astronomical Observatory of Mount Wilson (California, 1904). Finally noteworthy are the American Catholic Historical Association (1919) and the Dante Society, founded by the Catholic University of W. - See inv. CLVI.

Igino Cecchetti