Plenary Councils of Baltimore

The Vatican erected the Archdiocese of Baltimore in 1789, the first and only ecclesiastical province in the United States. At that time, the Catholic population in the country was under 30,000 and the majority of them lived in Maryland. All the Catholic dioceses in the United States were then part of Province of Baltimore. From 1829 to 1849, the bishops attended seven provincial councils, all of them held in Baltimore. The bishops used the provincial councils to establish uniform procedures and policies for the province;. In 1847, the Vatican erected the Province of Saint Louis, with its own set of suffragan dioceses. Within three years, the Vatican would erect three new ecclesiastical provinces in New York, Louisville and New Orleans. By the 1840s, the explosive growth of the Catholic population led to fears and resentment among many Protestants. Many Protestant workers feared the loss of jobs and housing to newcomers and worried about increased papal power in the United States. Nativist groups arose that fomented anti-Catholic riots in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, New York City and Louisville, Kentucky. Facing these challenges, the bishops in the United States felt a strong need for a national meeting to unite the Catholic church. Their plan was to call a plenary conference covering all the ecclesiastical provinces in the nation. During the Seventh Provincial Council of Baltimore, the bishops passed a resolution requesting that the Vatican sanction the holding of plenary councils in the United States. The Vatican granted the petition and appointed Archbishop Francis Kenrick of Baltimore as apostolic delegate. He was given the responsibility to convene the first plenary conference in 1852 and preside over it. ==First Plenary Council (1852)==

The First Plenary Council opened in Baltimore on May 9, 1852. It was attended by six archbishops and 35 suffragan bishops from across the United States. To avoid these problems and provide a sound Catholic education for their children, the First Council decreed that bishops must create a Catholic school for every parish and teach Catholic doctrine to the children.Kenrick faced similar disputes with lay trustees in the 1830s in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania over the appointment of pastors and the ownership of parish property. Legacy of First Council The last session of the First Council was held on May 20, 1852. Pope Pius IX approved the decrees in September 1852 after asking for the inclusion of language on the celebration of certain feast days. Kenrick published the degrees after making changes requested by the pope the same month. The First Council was viewed with alarm by many American Protestants, who feared that a strong Catholic hierarchy in the United States would give the pope more power in that country. ==Second Plenary Council (1866)==

By 1860, the Catholic population in the United States had doubled in less than ten years. The nativist reaction to the increase in the Catholic population spawned anti-Catholic riots in Washington, D.C., St. Louis, Missouri, Baltimore and other cities during the 1850s. During this period, the need for Catholic schools had become more pressing as many states had enacted compulsory education laws for children. In addition, the end of the American Civil War in 1865 had brought about enormous political and social change in the nation and the church needed to adapt its policies to meet the new needs. Pope Clement XII had specifically banned Catholics from joining any Freemasonry group in 1738 due to suspicions of the fellowship's activities. • Unitarianism, a Christian denomination that believes Christ was not a divine being • Transcendentalism, a philosophical movement that believed organized religion corrupts the purity of the individual • Spiritism, a religious movement that believes in reincarnation of the soul. The Second Council said that such spirits are the work of Satan. As a result of the Second Council, hundreds of parishes across the nation started setting up their own schools. The draining of Catholic students from the public schools alarmed many school administrators, who also feared that state legislatures would start siphoning funding from their schools to the Catholic ones. ==Third Plenary Council (1884)==

The Third Plenary Council opened in Baltimore on November 9, 1884. It was attended by 14 archbishops, 61 bishops or their representatives, six abbots, and one general of a religious congregation, along with priests and other dignitaries. Some of the activities were open to the public. Archbishop James Gibbons of Baltimore served as the apostolic delegate.The decrees of the Third Council are divided into twelve titles. The following are some of the topics covered: Catholic university During the 19th century, any American bishop who wanted a priest to go to a Catholic university was forced to send them to a pontifical university in Rome or to Catholic universities in Belgium or Austria-Hungary. Title V called for creating a commission to establish a Catholic university in the United States. Ecclesiastical persons Title II established policies regarding bishops, priests, nuns, and rectors in a diocese. It also established procedures in the event that a bishop died, retired or moved for the process of presenting candidates for his replacement to the Vatican. The last session of the Third Council was held on December 7, 1884. The decrees were approved by Pope Leo XIII. ==See also==