1634 – English colonists land in Maryland at St. Clement’s Island, and Jesuit Father Andrew White celebrates the first Catholic Mass in the English-speaking colonies.

1731 – St. Francis Xavier Church built in Newtowne, Md., and it stands today as the oldest Catholic church in continuous use from the original 13 colonies.

1789 – Bishop John Carroll is elected as the first Catholic bishop of the new United States, heading the Diocese of Baltimore, which encompasses all 13 original states.

1789 – Bishop Carroll founds Georgetown College (later University) in Washington, the nation’s first Catholic institution of higher learning.

1794 – St. Patrick Parish established in Washington, the first Catholic parish in the new federal city.

1858 – St. Augustine Parish, the mother church for African-American Catholics in the nation’s capital, is founded by free men and women of color, including former slaves.

1860 – St. Ann’s Infant Asylum is established by the Daughters of Charity.

1861 –  At the invitation of President Abraham Lincoln, the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul found Providence Hospital in Washington, D.C.

1887 – The Catholic University of America, the national university of the Catholic Church in the United States, is founded in Washington.

1897 – Trinity College founded in Washington by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, becoming one of the nation’s first Catholic liberal arts colleges for women.

1922 – Catholic Charities of Washington is formed as a collaboration between the St. Vincent de Paul Society and a group of Catholic laymen.

1939 – Pope Pius XII establishes the Archdiocese of Washington, which is led by Archbishop Michael J. Curley and includes only the city of Washington.

1947 – The Archdiocese of Washington expands to include St. Mary’s, Charles, Calvert, Prince George’s and Montgomery counties in Maryland.

1948 – New Washington Archbishop Patrick O’Boyle begins working to integrate all the Catholic schools and parishes in the Archdiocese of Washington.

1951 – Archbishop Carroll High School opens for young men, becoming one of the first integrated schools in the nation’s capital.

1959 – The National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception – the largest Catholic church in North America – is dedicated in Washington.

1963 – Archbishop O’Boyle offers the invocation at the March on Washington, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gives his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

1963 – The nation mourns after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the United States’ first Catholic president. His Requiem Mass is held at the Cathedral of St. Matthew.

1963 – The Sisters of the Holy Cross found Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, which will become one of Maryland’s largest hospitals.

1973 – Cardinal O’Boyle retires, and he is succeeded as archbishop of Washington by Archbishop William Baum.

1979 – During a pastoral visit to Washington, Pope John Paul II celebrates a Mass for an estimated 175,000 people on the National Mall.

1980 – Cardinal Baum is named to lead the Vatican’s Congregation for Catholic Education, and Cleveland Bishop James Hickey is named the archbishop of Washington.

1986 – The Archdiocese of Washington adopts its Child Protection Policy, one of the first in the nation.

1986 – Archbishop Hickey dedicates the Gift of Peace convent in Washington, where Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity sisters care for people with AIDS.

1997 – Cardinal James Hickey establishes the Center City Consortium of Catholic schools, as part of a broader “Faith in the City” program.

2000 – To mark the Great Jubilee Year, more than 20,000 local Catholics attend Eucharistic Congress 2000 at the MCI Center in Washington.

2001 – Archbishop Theodore McCarrick is installed in January as the new archbishop of Washington, succeeding Cardinal Hickey.

2001 – Cardinal McCarrick names Jane Belford as the Archdiocese of Washington’s first lay chancellor and the first woman to hold that post.

2006 – Pope Benedict XVI appoints Bishop Donald Wuerl of Pittsburgh as the new archbishop of Washington, succeeding Cardinal McCarrick.

2007 – Archbishop Wuerl convenes a Convocation on Education, beginning a widespread consultative process to strengthen and sustain Catholic schools for the future.

2008 – Pope Benedict XVI’s pastoral visit to Washington includes a Papal Mass for more than 50,000 people at the new Nationals Park.

2014 – To mark the Archdiocese of Washington’s 75th anniversary, Cardinal Wuerl convokes the first Archdiocesan Synod, which charts a course for future outreach in the key areas of worship, education, community, service, stewardship and administration.