Timeline of Catholicism in the USA history of Catholicism in the United States of America, starting with the first Catholic settlers arriving in Florida

1513: Catholicism arrives in Florida
Catholic settlers arrive for the first time||https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Florida#Firs...

1526: First Catholic Mass held in what is now the USA
Friars Fr. Antonion de Montesinos and Fr. Anthony de Cervantes minister to a short-lived colony.||...

1607: Anti-Catholic sentiment runs rife in the New World
Many British colonists were dissenters and displayed the anti-Catholic attitudes of Puritans and Con...

1632: British Catholics settle in Maryland
Founded by Lord Baltimore, who wished for English Catholics to have a safe haven away from the Europ...

1646: Harsh laws against Catholic education imposed
The Royalist loss of the English Civil War - and the victory of the armies led by Puritan Oliver Cro...

1649: The Maryland Toleration Act protects Catholics
Considered as a forerunner of the First Amendment, the Maryland Toleration Act put into law the tole...

1668: French Catholics establish missions
Missions are founded under the authority of the diocese of Quebec in Michigan, Illinois, Louisiana, ...

1707: Mass is said publicly in Philadelphia
Thanks to the religious toleration enshrined in William Penn's colony of Pennsylvania, Catholics sou...

1733: Philadelphia gets its first Catholic church
Old Saint Joseph’s Church, the first Catholic church in Philadelphia, was built in 1733. The Catholi...

6 Jun 1784: A Catholic hierarchy is established in America
Father John Carroll is confirmed by Pope Pius VI as Superior of the Missions in the United States, t...

1786: First Catholic church built in New York
St. Peter's was opened this year. It was built on Barclay Street outside the city walls because of a...

6 Nov 1789: The Diocese of Baltimore is created
After the American Revolution, the American Catholic Church has much more freedom to organise. The D...

1806: America's first cathedral
The cornerstone is laid for the Cathedral of the Assumption on Cathedral Hill, Baltimore. This would...

8 Apr 1808: America gets its first archdiocese
The Diocese of Baltimore is elevated to Archdiocese of Baltimore, the only archdiocese in the countr...

8 Apr 1808: Four new dioceses formed
New dioceses are formed in Philadelphia, New York, Boston and Bardstown (later moved to Louisville)....

1820: Catholic population in the states forming the USA now 195,000
Figures prior to this date are unreliable, but the Catholic population was undergoing swift growth. ...

4 Jan 1821: Elizabeth Ann Seton dies
Mother Seton, the founder of the Sisters of Mercy and the first Girls schools was a native of New Yo...

1839: Pope speaks out against slavery
Pope Gregory XVI issued a Bull entitled In Supremo, in which he condemned slave trading and racial s...

1845: Famine hits Ireland
The Great Famine begins in Ireland. Over the next few years a million Irish Catholics would flee the...

1850: Catholicism continues to grow
America's Catholic population at this point is 1.6 million

19 Jul 1850: New York becomes an Archdiocese
The growth of the Catholic church is strong in New York, especially due to Irish immigration and sev...

1852: First Plenary Council of Baltimore
The first of three such Plenary Councils, these were meetings to establish policies for all diocese ...

1854: First black American priest ordained
James Augustine Healy is ordained at Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris as a priest to serve in Boston, MA....

1855: Anti-Catholic sentiment is still prevalent
The waves of immigrants coming from Europe led to anti-Catholic sentiment, propaganda and violence. ...

1866: Second Plenary Council of Baltimore
Leading Catholic figures meet to discuss policy||https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plenary_Councils_of...

Timeline of Catholicism in the US