Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield–Cape Girardeau

History

The diocese was formed on August 24, 1956 from the Archdiocese of St. Louis and the Diocese of Kansas City. It consists of 39 primarily rural counties in the southern third of Missouri that include the urban areas of Springfield (the diocese headquarters), Branson and Cape Girardeau.

The diocese has two cathedrals: St. Agnes Cathedral in Springfield and the Cathedral of the Annunciation in Cape Girardeau. The two cathedrals are often (mistakenly) referred to as co-cathedrals. The diocese established the Cape Girardeau cathedral as part of an eventual plan to create a separate diocese in Cape Girardeau.

Demographics

The diocese includes 66 parishes, 19 missions, 2 chapels, and, as of a 2003 estimate, 63,179 Catholics. The diocese has an increasing Hispanic population.

This region is mainly located in the Ozarks and Bootheel of Missouri, where Catholics make up about 5% of the total population. The religion of the Ozarks, in particular, is notably individualistic and conservative; a major Christian denomination in the region is Pentecostalism.

Each year, tens of thousands of Vietnamese American Catholics converge on Carthage, at the western end of the diocese, to participate in the Marian Days celebration.

Bishops

The bishops of the diocese and their terms of service:

1. Charles Herman Helmsing (1956–1962); appointed Bishop of Kansas City-St. Joseph
2. Ignatius Jerome Strecker (1962–1969); appointed Archbishop of Kansas City in Kansas
3. William Wakefield Baum (1970–1973); appointed Archbishop of Washington; Cardinal in 1976
4. Bernard Francis Law (1973–1984); appointed Archbishop of Boston; Cardinal in 1985
5. John Joseph Leibrecht (1984–2008); retired
6. James Vann Johnston, Jr. (2008–2015); appointed Bishop of Kansas City-St. Joseph
7. Edward M. Rice (2016-)

High schools