Anthony Caffry (died 1811), sometimes spelled Caffrey[1] and recorded in Vatican documents as McCaffrey,[2] was an Irish Catholic priest who was a friar in the Order of Preachers.
Following his ordination, Father Caffry received a Doctor of Divinity degree from the Sorbonne in Paris.
[4] In 1794, he traveled to the United States and was charged by Bishop John Carroll with erecting the first Catholic parish in the city of Washington.
He first began holding services in rented spaces in the beginning of the year,[5] but later built a modest, one-and-a-half story wood-frame church with the meager funds the parish had.
[6] During its establishment, he insisted that Leonard Neale, the coadjutor bishop of Baltimore, order the entire City of Washington be included within the territory of the parish.