Schisms

Maréchal indicated that the most pressing problems facing the archdiocese were the shortage of priests and overly independent lay parish trustees.^[9] The latter problem, known as trusteeism, was most pronounced in parishes with a dominant number of Irish immigrants. These trustees were willing to accept a cleric, regardless of their incompetence or lack of qualifications, as long as they were Irish.^[10] At the same time, the Propaganda Fide in Rome was receiving reports from primarily Irish parishes in Virginia and South Carolina that were unhappy with French priests who were not fluent in English or ignorant of local customs.^[11]

In 1816, Neale had to deal with a schism in Charleston, South Carolina. He had placed St. Mary's, a primarily Irish parish in that city, under interdict because its trustees had refused to accept a French priest that Neale had appointed as pastor. After several appeals to the Vatican, Pius VII upheld Neale's ruling on July 6, 1817, soon after his death. Even after receiving the pope's ruling, the trustees defied Maréchal, petitioning the Vatican to form a new diocese in the Carolinas. However, when Maréchal appointed an Irish priest to the parish, the trustees submitted to Maréchal's authority. ^[12]

Maréchal in 1818 became involved with a second schism in Norfolk, Virginia, involving a French pastor, Reverend James Lucas, in an Irish parish. Complaining of Lucas' difficulty in conducting mass in English, the board of trustees had finally locked him out of St. Mary's church there. Neale then put that parish under interdict. The trustees petitioned the Vatican to lift the interdict and install an Irish priest of their choosing, Reverend Thomas Cabry. The Propaganda Fide suggested that Maréchal appoint Cabry, but Maréchal refused. Cabry then went to Norfolk and assumed the duties of pastor, despite Maréchal's threats.^[11]

In 1820, Bishop Joseph Flaget of the Diocese of Bardstown warned Maréchal about a certain priest seeking transfer to the archdiocese. The man had the appropriate letters of introduction from his bishop; however, when the archdiocesan staff observed him celebrating mass, it became clear that he was definitely not qualified. That same year, Maréchal wrote to the Propaganda Fide, complaining that European and Irish bishops were dumping their problematic Irish and European priests in the United States. Some of these priests had alcohol abuse problems, others had broken church law or had criminal records.^[13][14]

Concerned that the schisms in Charleston and Norfolk might spread, the Vatican on July 11, 1820, erected the dioceses of Richmond and Charleston, taking the Southeastern United States away from the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Maréchal was very unhappy with this action, complaining that the Vatican never consulted him on their creation.^[6][11]

On May 31, 1821, Maréchal dedicated the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore, which had been started by Archbishop John Carroll in 1806.^[1]

Visit to Rome

In 1821, Maréchal took his ad limina visit to Rome to visit the pope and resolve several pressing issues. One issue was the ownership of White Marsh plantation, Carroll's original home in Bowie, Maryland. Carroll had given the plantation to the Jesuit Order on February 17, 1728, but Maréchal now claimed that a significant part of the property belonged to the archdiocese.^[15] Pius VII ruled in Maréchal's favor, but the Jesuits refused to comply with his, contesting ownership of White Marsh for many more years. A more significant outcome of Maréchal's trip was the pope's agreement to consult with the archbishop of Baltimore on the erection of new dioceses and the appointment of new bishops in the United States.^[1]The new bishop of Richmond, Patrick Kelly, stopped in Baltimore in December 1820 on his way to Richmond to meet Maréchal. Kelly wrote about the meeting:

He [Maréchal] did not receive me over kindly, and tried to persuade me it would be dangerous to take possession of my See; but his arguments did not satisfy me, and I arrived Norfolk on 19th January.^[16]

In January 1821, Kelly took up residence in Norfolk which had a larger Catholic population than Richmond. Kelly was soon involved in disputes with Maréchal over their jurisdictions.^[16] Maréchal soon came into conflict with John England, the first bishop of Charleston. England kept pressing Maréchal to call a provincial counsel to discuss church problems in the United States, but Maréchal refused. He felt that England was intruding into the affairs of the other suffragan dioceses of the archdiocese.^[6]

In 1822, at Maréchal's request, the Vatican designated St. Mary's Seminary as a pontifical university, giving it the authority to grant Doctor of Divinity degrees.^[17]After returning to Baltimore from a trip to Canada in 1826, Maréchal went to Mount Saint Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland on a visit. While at the seminary, he experience his first symptoms of chest dropsy (heart failure). ^[7][6]