Mary—the Immaculate Conception—is Patroness of the united states

By Fr. Christopher Foeckler, MJ • Phoenix, AZ

In light of the national celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence this past July 4th, I thought it appropriate to reflect this month on the Patroness of the United States. 

Rev. John Carroll was a Catholic priest from Maryland who was very active in the independence movement of 1776, in spite of a strong prejudice against Catholics by Protestants at the time. His cousin, Charles Carroll, a prominent landowner from Annapolis, Maryland, is the only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence. Together, they were members of the delegation sent to Canada to enlist help for the thirteen colonies in the struggle for independence. This mission was unsuccessful but demonstrated their patriotism! In different ways, both George Washington and Benjamin Franklin expressed their appreciation for these men and the “patriotic part” that American Catholics played in the Revolution.

In 1790, Rev. John Carroll was consecrated the first Bishop of America in Baltimore, Maryland. He always had a great devotion to the Blessed Mother and within a year of his appointment, in 1791, along with the other members of the clergy, consecrated the new Diocese of Baltimore to Mary, the Immaculate Conception, asking her to “preserve from all evil” the people of the diocese! 

Later, in 1846, priests and bishops of the entire country of the United States (as it was at the time) officially named the Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title of the Immaculate Conception, as Patroness of the United States! The Vatican approved this request on February 7, 1847. Have in mind that this date is still seven years before the dogma was defined by Pope Pius IX in 1854, contributing to the definition of this devotion by its spontaneous practice decades before being official. 

According to the website of the National Shrine, “That year, 1846, the Lowell Courier Journal, a newspaper in Massachusetts, wrote of ‘a magnificent Catholic Church to be built at Washington, D.C. after the manner of the great cathedrals of the Old World from subscriptions of every Catholic Parish in America.’

“Through the generosity of generations of American Catholics, the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception stands as our nation’s preeminent Marian shrine and patronal church, rivaling the great sanctuaries of Europe and the world, not only in size and stature, but also in beauty, dignity and sanctity.”

The cornerstone of the Shrine was laid on May 16, 1920, and the magnificent Church was consecrated in 1959, then elevated to the status of “minor Basilica” by St. John Paul II in 1990 after his visit to the site in 1989. He said then:

“This Shrine speaks to us with the voice of all America … who have come here from the various countries of the Old World. These people, speaking different languages, coming from different backgrounds of history and tradition in their own countries, came together around the heart of a Mother whom they all had in common. While their faith in Christ made all of them aware of being the one People of God, this awareness became all the more vivid through the presence of the Mother in the work of Christ and the Church.”