The Catholic Beginnings of Our Nation

On the gallery wall in the nave of the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, these two plaques are carved into the stone. They depict the Ark and the Dove. It was in these two ships that the first Catholic settlers came to the United States in 1634. These first settlers came over with Cecil Calvert, the second Lord Baltimore, who sought to establish a financially successful colony that would also provide religious liberty.

The colony would espouse religious freedom throughout the next two centuries and work to enshrine it forever in the Constitution of the United States. Two Jesuit priests came over on these ships and celebrated the first Mass in the United States on Saint Clement's Island in the Chesapeake Bay on March 25, 1634.

The Catholic population grew enough that in 1789 Baltimore was erected as the first Diocese of the United States, covering the entire country! From these humble beginnings, the Catholic Church in America has grown to over 181 dioceses and archdioceses, over 49,000 priests, over 95,000 religious men and women and over 60 million Catholics, making us the largest single religious denomination in the United States.

Into this great heritage, a wealthy Baltimore merchant of the early 1900s decided to express his faith with a gift that would glorify God and benefit all. - more