Plenary Councils of Baltimore

The Plenary Councils of Baltimore were three meetings of American Catholic bishops, archbishops and superiors of religious orders in the United States. The councils were held in 1852, 1866 and 1884 in Baltimore, Maryland.

These three conferences played major roles in the 19th century in the establishment of Catholic education in the United States. They also defined the roles and rules for the church hierarchy, the clergy and Catholic laypeople.