(The following is reprinted from Catholic Impact 2014, a special publication to mark the 75th anniversary of the Archdiocese of Washington that shows the archdiocese’s impact on the local community in the areas of Catholic education, social services and health care.)
When Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the archbishop of Washington, announced plans for the Archdiocese of Washington’s 75th anniversary in 2014, he said it would be a time to look back, and look ahead. On Pentecost Sunday, June 8, 2014, Cardinal Wuerl launched the 75th anniversary by celebrating Mass, and by convoking the final session of an Archdiocesan Synod. Catholics from the city of Washington and surrounding Maryland, from different backgrounds and walks of life, participated in preparatory meetings for the Synod, working together for nearly two years to draw up a blueprint for the archdiocese’s future outreach in the key areas of education, service, worship, community, administration and stewardship. The Synod participants examined what the Church did well in those areas, and how it could improve its outreach. The goal, the cardinal said, was “to be the best Church we can be.”
Those delegates drew on a legacy of Catholic faith – of prayer and action – that began when Maryland’s first settlers landed on St. Clement’s Island and celebrated the first Mass in the English colonies in 1634. Those pioneer Catholic colonists, along with settlers from other faiths, helped establish Maryland as the birthplace of religious freedom in the United States, and the colony’s 1649 Toleration Act was a forerunner to the Constitution’s Bill of Rights and the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of religion.
When Pope Pius XII established the Archdiocese of Washington in 1939, it only included the District of Columbia, and the archdiocese was led by Archbishop Michael Curley, who also continued to serve as archbishop of Baltimore. Eight years later, the archdiocese was expanded to include the five surrounding counties in Maryland – St. Mary’s, Charles, Calvert Prince George’s and Montgomery, and Archbishop Patrick O’Boyle was installed as the first resident archbishop of Washington in 1948.
From the time those first Catholic settlers knelt in prayer at St. Clement’s Island, the lives of the Catholic community in what is now the Archdiocese of Washington have been rooted in a foundation of prayer. People who live along city streets, in suburban neighborhoods and in the rural countryside find a spiritual home in the Archdiocese’s 139 parishes and nine missions.
Each day throughout the Archdiocese, in their homes, in small chapels, in convents, in parish churches and in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington – the largest Catholic church in North America – people begin and end their days in prayer. In the Archdiocese of Washington’s Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, people pray together at daily Mass, just as people came to the cathedral to pray in thanksgiving when World War II ended, to pray in sorrow at the funeral Mass for President John F. Kennedy after the nation’s first Catholic president was assassinated, and just as people came to the cathedral to pray after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.
When Cardinal Wuerl welcomed Pope Benedict XVI at the 2008 Papal Mass at the new Nationals Park in Washington, he said the congregation that prayed with the pontiff that day reflected the face of the Catholic Church in America – people who come from many lands, who speak many languages but who share one faith.
In a special way, the people of the Archdiocese of Washington reflect that face of the Church in their diversity and in their shared mission, of manifesting God’s kingdom in today’s world. The 621,000 Catholics in the Archdiocese include newly arrived immigrants from nearly every continent, and people whose ancestors immigrated here nearly four centuries ago. Each weekend, Masses are celebrated in more than 20 languages, including Vietnamese, Korean, Chinese, Polish, Portuguese, French and American Sign Language. Spanish-language Masses are celebrated at 30 locations to serve the nearly 270,000 Catholics of Hispanic ancestry living in the community. The Archdiocese also includes 100,000 Catholics of African and Caribbean descent.
The crucible of the Great Depression had shaped the faith of the first members of the newly formed Archdiocese of Washington in 1939, who soon demonstrated a spirit of generosity and sacrifice in serving their country overseas and at home during World War II. In the post-war years, many new churches and schools were built throughout the archdiocese to serve the growing Catholic population. The churches were the archdiocese’s Catholics now pray and the schools where their children now learn stand as living reminders of the faith and generosity of earlier generations of Catholics in the Archdiocese of Washington.
Like their ancestors in the faith, today’s Catholics in the archdiocese continue to work for justice. In 1858, the founders of St. Augustine Church in Washington included free men and women of color and former slaves. In 1963, St. Augustine parishioners hosted and joined participants in the March on Washington, where they heard their then-Archbishop Patrick O’Boyle – a champion for racial justice who had integrated local Catholic parishes and schools – offer the invocation. Today, St. Augustine parishioners continue to sacrifice to sponsor their parish school, believing, like their parish’s founders did, that an education rooted in faith and strong academics would help their children achieve a better life and help build a better world.
Throughout the history of what is now the Archdiocese of Washington, Catholic lay people, religious and priests have generously supported the work of education, social service and health care.
Catholic schools in the Washington area began when our country did. For generations, Catholic schools in the Archdiocese have educated leaders for our Church, our communities and our nation. Partnerships among parish, school and community groups have helped develop innovative programs at local Catholic schools like the bilingual Spanish immersion program at Sacred Heart School in Washington, the work study program at Don Bosco Cristo Rey High School in Takoma Park, the global learning curriculum at St. Francis International School in Silver Spring, and the classics curriculum at St. Jerome School in Hyattsville.
The newly formed Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington helped people during the Depression and now in a new millennium, Catholic Charities is the largest private social services provider in the Washington area, bringing help and hope to 116,000 people annually in more than 65 programs at 49 locations.
After helping at a food line for the homeless outside Catholic Charities headquarters in Washington, Cardinal Wuerl noted that more importantly than offering food, that service reminds people in need that God loves them, and they are not alone. “Catholic Charities is a visible sign of God’s love, because of the support of everyone who makes it possible,” he said.
That solidarity with the poor also extends to those in need around our country and our world, as was demonstrated in 2005, when Washington-area parishes and schools mobilized to raise $1 million for victims of the South Asia tsunami, and later in the year, $2.6 million for victims of Hurricane Katrina in the U.S. Gulf Coast. Parishes and schools here also welcomed Katrina survivors seeking a new home.
The Daughters of Charity started Providence Hospital in Washington during the Civil War years, and today it continues as one of four Catholic hospitals in the area providing state-of-the-art healthcare and millions of dollars in care to the poor each year.
Just as we are connected by faith to earlier generations of Catholics in the Archdiocese of Washington, so too we are connected by faith to Catholics around the world, and to our pope in Rome who is the successor of St. Peter in leading our Church. Almost three decades before Pope Benedict XVI’s Mass at Nationals Park, Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass for 175,000 people at the National Mall, offering a visible sign of our unity as a Catholic family of faith.
The Archdiocese of Washington’s 75th anniversary theme – “Manifesting the Kingdom” – reflects the faith and service of generations of Catholics who have brought Christ’s love and hope to our community and our world. The stories in the Archdiocese of Washington’s 75th anniversary Catholic Impact booklet about the archdiocese’s educational, social service and health care outreach show how that work of “Manifesting the Kingdom” unfolds every day. Two thousand years ago, Jesus taught, served the poor and healed the sick, and the Archdiocese of Washington continues to carry out that work of faith today. As Cardinal Wuerl wrote in his book, Seek First the Kingdom, “Now it’s our turn, it’s yours and mine. As witnesses to Christ, his Gospel, his kingdom… each and every Catholic can make a difference.”
(Catholic Impact 2014 is available electronically in English and Spanish at http://www.adw.org/catholicimpact. For printed copies, call the Archdiocese of Washington’s Office of Media and Public Relations at 301-853-4516 or email [email protected] .)
