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 sq. 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 women’s congregations (1,231 sisters), 24 scholasticates (791 religious), 1 diocesan seminary (169 seminarians), 5 universities, 3 orphanages, and 2 hospitals.

The archdiocese of W. was erected by Pope Pius XII by the apostolic constitution Supremae ecclesiasticae potestatis of 21 July 1939. The reasons for W.’s elevation to the dignity of an archiepiscopal see are given in the constitution: W. as the seat of the civil government, its 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 mentions that 1939 marked the 150th anniversary of W. as the capital of the Republic.

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

THE CENTER OF STUDIES. — W. has 5 universities: two Catholic, «Georgetown» and the «Catholic University», and three Protestant or non-denominational: «George Washington University» (1821, of the Baptist Church: Columbian College) for adults who already have stable employment; «Howard University» (1867) for Black people; and «American University» (1891), of the Methodist Church.

27. 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 13 Nov. 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), and 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 is the Riccobono Institute for Roman law. The Library possesses approximately 400,000 volumes. The Sulpicians direct «Caldwell Hall», a residence for students of the secular clergy (Sulpician Seminary). Civil recognition was obtained in 1887 and reaffirmed and extended by the federal government on 3 April 1928. The first Constitutions (1889) were amended in 1926; subsequently conformed to the apostolic constitution Deus scientiarum Dominus (v.) and approved on 7 March 1937. According to these latest Statutes, 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 Administration composed of the cardinals, the metropolitans, the grand chancellor, the rector, and a certain number of persons (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 places; 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.

28. Georgetown University

It is the oldest Catholic university institution in the United States, and is due to the first archbishop of Baltimore, Carroll (v.), formerly a Jesuit missionary in Maryland, who (around 1785) proposed to his confrères, incardinated in the diocese because of the suppression of the Order, the establishment of a College at Georgetown. Begun in 1788, its foundation is considered to date from 23 Jan. 1789. Once the Society of Jesus had been re-established in Maryland, «Georgetown College» officially passed to the Society, which still directs II. On 1 March 1815 it obtained from Congress the power to confer academic degrees; on 30 March 1833, from the Holy See, the privilege of conferring degrees also in Philosophy and Theology. The highly renowned Faculty of Medicine was established in 1851; the Faculty 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 approximately 5,000 students; its ecclesiastical Faculties, reserved for students of the Society, are located respectively at Woodstock (for Theology) and, temporarily, at Plattsburg (for Philosophy).

29. Theological Faculty of the «Immaculate Conception»

For the theology students of the Dominican Province. The «General Studium», first organized in the convent of St. Joseph at Somerset (Ohio), was later transferred to W., where the convent of the Immaculate Conception was established beside the Catholic University (1903–1905). In 1921 the «Studium» obtained from the Holy See the privilege of being a theological Faculty, reserved for members of the Order. The Library (approximately 40,000 volumes), joined to the Historical Archive of the Dominicans in the United States, is among the most valuable for works on theology and related disciplines. The professors publish the journal The Thomist, organize summer theological courses for religious women, and offer public lecture courses of an apologetic character.

30. Various cultural institutions

In addition to the Universities, W. has numerous other highly important cultural institutions. a) Libraries: Library of Congress (1800), with more than 5 million volumes, as well as pamphlets, incunabula, manuscripts, musical scores, maps, etc.; and the Henry Clay Folger Library, with the largest collection of works concerning Shakespeare. b) Museums and art galleries; c) Scientific associations, academies, and societies, including the National Academy (1863), the Smithsonian Institution (1846), with archaeological and ethnological collections, an astrophysical observatory, and the «Ch. L. Freer» collection of manuscripts (v.); the Institution of W. (1902), founded by Andrew Carnegie to promote scientific research, which gave 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.