ABSTRACT
The signing of a definitive peace treaty between Great Britain and the United States on September 3, 1783, was of crucial importance to the small number of Catholics living in America. The two Vicars-Apostolic of London— Richard Challoner and James Talbot —who exercised supervision over the American Catholics during the revolutionary period had little desire to perpetuate this relationship. Challoner had long complained that America was too far away, too remote for him to exercise proper spiritual administration, and he had recommended to Rome that a separate Bishop Vicar-Apostolic be appointed to reside in the English colonies. Cardinal Leonardo Antonelli informed Archbishop Doria Pamphili that the dissolution of the political ties between Great Britain and the United States would carry over into the religious sphere as well, and the dependence of American Catholics on the Vicar-Apostolic of London would come to an end.
