Introduction

The American Revolution had a profound impact on the position of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. As a result of the forces set loose by the revolution the various states emancipated Catholics from the penal legislation of the colonial period. As a Native American, John Carroll, the first Roman Catholic Bishop in the United States, understood the need for his Church to become "Americanized". Unlike most other American churches, however, the Catholic Church in United States was only one part of an ancient, world-wide, tradition-bound, highly-structured organization governed from Rome, the ecclesiastical center and font of authority for Catholicism throughout the world. In 1784, when Rome appointed John Carroll Superior of the Catholic missions in United States, the Catholic Church was numerically small, lacking priests and religious facilities. As a minority group Catholics in America naturally understood the benefits that would accrue to their faith from the implementation by the state, and national, governments of religious freedom.