Dominicans celebrate Mass to mark 200th anniversary in United States

Published: 2005-06-16

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- With Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington as chief celebrant, the Dominican friars celebrated 200 years in the United States at a Mass June 8 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. The Dominicans first came to the Americas with Spanish colonialists in the 16th century, but it was not until 1805 that the Dominicans formally established the order's St. Joseph Province in this country. Napoleonic blockades may have slowed them down, but they did not deter Father Pius Joseph Gaddi, master of the order, from founding the province on June 22, 1805. The first member of the community was Father Edward Dominic Fenwick, a native of southern Maryland whose ancestors fought in the American Revolution. He became the Dominican superior, joined by three friars. Father Fenwick was later appointed first bishop of Cincinnati in 1821. It was his crosier that Cardinal McCarrick carried at the anniversary Mass. Since then, "the spirit of Dominic has flourished in the church" here, said Cardinal McCarrick in his homily.

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