Pennsylvania: Difference between revisions

[[Pennsylvania]] is located in the northeastern [[United States]], bordered by [[New York]] to the north, [[New Jersey]] to the east, [[Delaware]] and [[Maryland]] to the southeast, [[West Virginia]] to the southwest, and [[Ohio]] to the west, with [[Lake Erie]] providing a short northern shoreline. Covering 119,283 km², its terrain includes the Pocono and Allegheny Mountains, fertile valleys, and urban-industrial areas like [[Philadelphia]] and [[Pittsburgh]]. This geography has facilitated Catholic settlement patterns, with early missions in rural south-central areas and later urban parishes serving immigrant communities.<ref name="wiki-pa" />

[[Pennsylvania]] was founded in 1681 by [[William Penn]] as a Quaker colony promoting religious tolerance, which allowed early Catholic presence despite colonial-era restrictions elsewhere. Catholicism grew through German, Irish, Polish, and Italian immigration in the 18th-19th centuries, leading to the establishment of dioceses starting with the [[Diocese of Philadelphia]] in 1808.<ref name="ency-pa" />

Catholicism was introduced in the early 18th century (1720s-1730s), with [[Jesuit]] missionaries establishing missions such as Conewago in south-central [[Pennsylvania]] (1720s) for German and other settlers, and [[St. Joseph's Church (Archdiocese of Philadelphia)]] in [[Philadelphia]] (1733) by Jesuit Father Joseph Greaton.<ref name="hbg-growth">{{Cite web |title=Growth of Catholicism |url=https://www.hbgdiocese.org/about/growth-of-catholicism |publisher=Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg |access-date=2026-01-27}}</ref><ref name="ency-pa" />