James Whitfield (bishop)
James Whitfield (November 3, 1770 – October 19, 1834) was an English-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. He served as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Baltimore in Maryland from 1828 until his death in 1834.
The Most Reverend James Whitfield | |
|---|---|
| Archbishop of Baltimore | |
| See | Baltimore |
| Appointed | January 8, 1828 (Coadjutor) |
| Installed | May 25, 1828 |
| Term ended | October 19, 1834 |
| Predecessor | Ambrose Maréchal, PSS |
| Successor | Samuel Eccleston, PSS |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | July 24, 1809 by Claude Simon |
| Consecration | May 25, 1828 by Benedict Joseph Flaget, PSS |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 3, 1770 Liverpool, Lancashire, England |
| Died | October 19, 1834 (aged 63) Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. |
| Buried | Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Baltimore, Maryland, United States |
| Previous post(s) | Apostolic Administrator of Richmond (1828–1834) Coadjutor Archbishop of Baltimore (1828) Titular bishop of Appolonia (1828) |
| Signature | |
An businessman from a wealthy English family, Whitfield enter a Catholic seminary in France as an adult in the early 1800's and was ordained a priest in the Sulpician Order in 1809. After serving as a priest in England for several years, he traveled to Maryland in 1817 to serve in the Diocese of Baltimore. He was rector of the cathedral and vicar general of archdiocese until being appointed archbishop in 1828.
Whitfield is known for hosting the first two provincial councils of American bishops, where policies for running the new American Catholic Church were established. He is also known for spending his personal fortune to build churches and sponsor priests, and for his assistance to the African-American community.