The Apostolic Prefecture of the United States (Latin : Praefectura Apostolica Civitatum Foederatarum Americae Septentrionalis) was the earliest Roman Catholic ecclesiastical jurisdiction to be officially recognized within the United States after its declaration of independence in 1776.
Before and during the American Revolutionary War, the Catholics in the Thirteen Colonies (not including French Canada) were under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the bishop of the Apostolic Vicariate of the London District in England.
The war was formally ended by the Treaty of Paris, which was signed on September 3, 1783, and was ratified by the Congress of the Confederation (of the newly independent United States of America) on January 14, 1784, and by King George III of Great Britain on April 9, 1784. The ratification documents were exchanged in Paris on May 12, 1784. A petition was sent by the Maryland clergy to the Holy See, on November 6, 1783, for permission for the missionaries in the United States to nominate a superior who would have some of the powers of a bishop. [1]
In response to that, Father John Carroll—having been elected by his brother priests—was confirmed by Pope Pius VI, on June 6, 1784, as Superior of the Missions in the thirteen United States of North America, with power to give the sacrament of confirmation. This act established a hierarchy in the United States and removed the Catholic Church in the United States from the authority of the Vicar Apostolic of the London District. [2]
The Holy See then established the Apostolic Prefecture of the United States on November 26, 1784. [1]
An episcopal polity is a hierarchical form of church governance in which the chief local authorities are called bishops. The word "bishop" here is derived via the British Latin and Vulgar Latin term *ebiscopus/*biscopus, from the Ancient Greek ἐπίσκοπος epískopos meaning "overseer". It is the structure used by many of the major Christian Churches and denominations, such as the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Church of the East, Anabaptist, Lutheran, and Anglican churches or denominations, and other churches founded independently from these lineages. Many Methodist denominations have a form of episcopal polity known as connexionalism.
A prelate is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin praelatus, the past participle of praeferre, which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'prefer'; hence, a prelate is one set over others.
An exarch was the holder of any of various historical offices, some of them being political or military and others being ecclesiastical.
The Apostolic Prefecture of the Marshall Islands is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or apostolic prefecture of the Catholic Church in the Marshall Islands.
The Diocese of Fairbanks is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in the northern part of the state of Alaska in the United States. It was formerly named the Prefecture Apostolic of Alaska (1894–1917), the Vicariate Apostolic of Alaska (1917–1951), and the Vicariate Apostolic of Northern Alaska (1951–1962).
The Apostolic Nunciature to the United States, sometimes referred to as the Vatican Embassy, is the diplomatic mission of the Holy See to the United States. It is located at 3339 Massachusetts Avenue, Northwest, Washington, D.C., in the Embassy Row neighborhood. Since 2016, the papal nuncio has been Cardinal Christophe Pierre.
An apostolic prefect or prefect apostolic is a priest who heads what is known as an apostolic prefecture, a 'pre-diocesan' missionary jurisdiction where the Catholic Church is not yet sufficiently developed to have it made a diocese. Although it usually has an (embryonal) see, it is often not called after such city but rather after a natural feature, or administrative geographical area, which may be a name in use by the local inhabitants, or one assigned by a colonial authority, depending on the circumstances under which the prefecture was established.
In the Catholic Church, an apostolic visitor is a papal representative with a transient mission to perform a canonical visitation of relatively short duration. The visitor is deputed to investigate a special circumstance in a diocese or country, and to submit a report to the Holy See at the conclusion of the investigation.
The Apostolic Vicariate of the London District was an ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. It was led by a vicar apostolic who was a titular bishop. The apostolic vicariate was created in 1688 and was dissolved in 1850, when its former area was replaced by the episcopal sees of Westminster and Southwark.
The Diocese of Darjeeling is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church in India. It is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Calcutta, yet depends on the missionary Dicastery for Evangelization. It includes within its territory the independent Himalayan country of Bhutan, where Christianity is practiced by a tiny minority and proselytism is forbidden.
The Diocese of Stockholm is an exempt Latin Catholic ecclesiastical bishopric in Sweden and the only Catholic diocese established in Sweden since the Protestant Reformation. The diocese belongs to no ecclesiastical province but forms an episcopal conference with its Nordic neighbours. Its territory includes 44 parishes and covers the entire country of Sweden.
The Apostolic Prefecture of Lower Congo was a Roman Catholic pre-diocesan missionary jurisdiction in Central Africa's Congo Basin.
The Diocese of Laghouat is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church covering the sparsely populated Saharan inland of Algeria.
The Apostolic Prefecture of Ulaanbaatar is a Roman Catholic Latin apostolic prefecture located in Mongolia, with its territory consisting of the entire country.
The Apostolic Vicariate of Anatolia is a Roman Catholic Latin apostolic vicariate in the eastern half of Anatolia.
The Apostolic Prefecture of Falkland Islands is a Latin Church missionary ecclesiastical jurisdiction or apostolic prefecture of the Catholic Church covering the Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, UK Southern Atlantic Ocean overseas possessions.
Wenceslao Selga Padilla was a Filipino Scheut priest who from 2 August 2003 was the Apostolic prefect of the Apostolic Prefecture of Ulaanbaatar, a pre-diocesan missionary jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Church in Mongolia.
The Apostolic Prefecture of Xinjiang-Urumqi is a pre-diocesan missionary Latin jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Northwestern China's vast region Xinjiang, which is exempt, i.e. directly dependent on the Holy See and its missionary Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, not part of any ecclesiastical province.
