In October 1791, five men began studies for the priesthood at the first seminary in the United States, just a couple years after the Diocese of Baltimore was established as the first in the country in 1789.
At the time of that humble beginning - when Bishop John Carroll, Baltimore's first bishop, welcomed four priests from the Society of St Sulpice and the five seminarians - the Diocese of Baltimore encompassed the whole fledgling nation.
Sulpician Fr Phillip J Brown, president rector of today's St Mary's Seminary and University, noted in his welcome to commemorate that occasion that the seminarians began their studies at St Mary's downtown on Paca Street a month before Georgetown University in Washington opened, making the Baltimore seminary the oldest American institution of higher learning.
