This page is a list of American saints, beati, venerabili and Servants of God of the Roman Catholic Church - that is, those significantly associated with what either was at the time, or subsequently became, the United States of America. The Catholic Church has existed in the United States since the country's earliest history. Indeed, Columbus' expedition of 1492 included Catholic priests among the crew. Catholic missionaries were some of the first explorers in British and French colonial lands in the east, and Spanish lands in the southwest. Maryland was founded as a Catholic colony.