Archdiocese of Philadelphia

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia (Latin: Archidiœcesis Philadelphiensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in southeastern Pennsylvania in the United States.

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia originally included all of Pennsylvania and Delaware, along with seven counties and parts of three counties in New Jersey. The diocese was raised to an archdiocese in 1875.

In 2012, diocesan priest William Lynn became the first Catholic official to be convicted in the United States of covering up abuses by other priests in his charge. In 2020, the ongoing sexual abuse scandal in the archdiocese was expected to result in payment of $126 million to victims.

The seat of the archbishop is the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Philadelphia. As of 2024, Nelson J. Pérez is the archbishop of Philadelphia.

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia covers five Pennsylvania counties: Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia. It is the metropolitan see of the Ecclesiastical Province of Philadelphia.

The archdiocese includes the following suffragan dioceses:

The history of the Catholic Church in the area dates back to William Penn when Mass was said publicly as early as 1707.

In 1808, Pope Pius VII erected the suffragan dioceses of Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, and Bardstown, Kentucky, from the territory of the Diocese of Baltimore. The pope appointed Reverend Michael Francis Egan as the first bishop of Philadelphia.