The Diocese of Springfield–Cape Girardeau ( la, Dioecesis Campifontis–Capitis Girardeauensis) is a

Latin Church , native_name_lang = la , image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran , caption = Archbasilica of Saint Jo ...

ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in southern

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan

Archdiocese of Saint Louis The Archdiocese of St. Louis ( la, Archidiœcesis Sancti Ludovici) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church that covers the City of St. Louis and the Missouri counties of Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln, Pe ...

. As of 2023, the current bishop of the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau is Edward M. Rice. The diocese has two cathedrals: St. Agnes Cathedral in Springfield and the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Annunciation in Cape Girardeau.

Demographics

The Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau consists of 39 primarily rural counties in the southern third of Missouri. It includes the cities of Springfield, Branson and

Cape Girardeau Cape Girardeau ( , french: Cap-Girardeau ; colloquially referred to as "Cape") is a city in Cape Girardeau and Scott Counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. At the 2020 census, the population was 39,540. The city is one of two principal citi ...

. This region is mainly located in

the Ozarks The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant por ...

and Bootheel of Missouri, where Catholics make up about 5% of the total population. The diocese includes 66 parishes, 19 missions, 2 chapels, and, as of a 2003 estimate, 63,179 Catholics. The diocese has an increasing

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

population. Each year, tens of thousands of

Vietnamese American Vietnamese Americans ( vi, Người Mỹ gốc Việt, lit=Viet-origin American people) are Americans of Vietnamese ancestry. They make up about half of all overseas Vietnamese and are the fourth-largest Asian American ethnic group after Chines ...

Catholics converge on

Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the clas ...

, at the western end of the diocese, to participate in the Marian Days celebration.

History

1600 to 1900

The first Catholic presence in Missouri was from European explorers in the 17th century traveling the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it ...

. At that time, all of Missouri was part of the French colony of Louisiana. With the

Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase (french: Vente de la Louisiane, translation=Sale of Louisiana) was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. In return for fifteen million dollars, or app ...

of 1804, Missouri passed from France to the United States and the bishop of the Diocese of New Orleans assumed jurisdiction for Catholics in Missouri. On July 18, 1826,

Pope Leo XII Pope Leo XII ( it, Leone XII; born Annibale Francesco Clemente Melchiorre Girolamo Nicola della Genga (; 2 August 1760 – 10 February 1829), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 28 September 1823 to his death ...

erected the Diocese of St. Louis, covering the new state of Missouri along with vast areas of the Great Plains. The southern Missouri area would remain part of this parish for the next 130 years. In 1825, Reverend

John Timon John Timon, C.M. (February 12, 1797 – April 16, 1867) was a prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the bishop of the new Diocese of Buffalo in Western New York and founder of the brothers of the Holy Infancy religious order. B ...

celebrated the first Mass in

in 1825 and in 1833 dedicated the first church. The oldest parish in Springfield, Immaculate Conception, was established in 1868. In Joplin, the first Catholic church was started in 1878. Our Lady of the Lake, the only Catholic church in Branson, was dedicated in 1922.

1900 to 1973

Pope Pius XII erected the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau on August 24, 1956, taking its territory from the

Archdiocese of St. Louis The Archdiocese of St. Louis ( la, Archidiœcesis Sancti Ludovici) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church that covers the City of St. Louis and the Missouri counties of Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln, Perr ...

and the Diocese of Kansas City (in Missouri). The pope named Auxiliary Bishop Charles Helmsing of St. Louis as the first bishop of the new diocese. In 1962, Helmsing became bishop of the

Diocese of Kansas City-Saint Joseph In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associ ...

. The second bishop of Springfield-Cape Girardeau was Monsignor Ignatius Jerome Strecker from the Diocese of Wichita, named by

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Roman Catholic Church, Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 28 Oc ...

in 1962. Strecker was elevated to archbishop of the Archdiocese of Kansas City (in Kansas) in 1969. To replaced Strecker in Springfield-Cape Girardeau,

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...

appointed Monsignor William Baum of Kansas City-St. Joseph. Baum served in this position for only three years before being named archbishop of the

Archdiocese of Washington The Archdiocese of Washington is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in the United States. Its territorial remit encompasses the District of Columbia and the counties of Calvert, Charles, Montgomery, P ...

in 1973.

1973 to present

Paul VI then named Bishop

Bernard Law Bernard Francis Law (November 4, 1931 – December 20, 2017) was an American cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, known largely for covering up the serial rape of children by Catholic priests. He served as Archbishop of Boston, archp ...

of the Diocese of Natchez-Jackson to replace Baum. In 1975, Law sponsored the priests and brothers of the

Congregation of the Mother Coredemptrix The Congregation of the Mother of the Redeemer ( vi, Dòng Mẹ Chúa Cứu Chuộc; la, Congregatio Redemptoris Matris, abbreviated CRM) is a religious institute within the Roman Catholic Church that is based in Vietnam and dominated by Vietname ...

, which was forced to leave

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...

. He allowed the congregation to purchase the former Our Lady of the Ozarks College in

, for $1, to use as their monastery and shrine to the

Immaculate Heart of Mary The Immaculate Heart of Mary () is a Roman Catholic devotional name used to refer to the Catholic view of the interior life of Mary, mother of Jesus, her joys and sorrows, her virtues and hidden perfections, and, above all, her virginal love ...

. Law also formed the Missouri Christian Leadership Conference. In 1984, Law became archbishop of the

Archdiocese of Boston The Archdiocese of Boston ( la, Archidiœcesis Bostoniensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church located in the New England region of the United States. Its territorial remit encompasses the whole of ...

. Reverend John Joseph Leibrecht of St. Louis became the fifth bishop of Kansas City-St. Joseph in 1984, appointed by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

. After 21 years of service as bishop, Leibrecht retired in 2004. The next bishop in the diocese was Reverend

James Vann Johnston Jr. James Vann Johnston Jr. (born October 16, 1959) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He has been serving as bishop of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph in Missouri since 2015. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Springf ...

of the Diocese of Knoxville, named by

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

in 2004. He was named in 2015 as bishop of Kansas City-Saint Joseph. As of 2023, the current bishop of the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau is Edward M. Rice, formerly an auxiliary bishop of St. Louis. He was appointed by Pope Francis in 2016.

Reports of sex abuse

The Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau announced in 2013 that it had received a credible accusation of sexual abuse of a minor against Reverend Walter C. Craig, who died in 1971. The alleged assault occurred during the 1960s. In April 2019, the diocese released a list of 19 clergy with credible accusations of sexual abuse of minor. Bishop Rice said that the diocese had spent over $300,000 settling sexual abuse claims since 1989. Financial records before 1989 had been lost due to a flood. In February 2020, Reverend Frederick Lutz, a retired diocesan priest, was arrested in the town of

Advance Advance commonly refers to: *Advance, an offensive push in sports, games, thoughts, military combat, or sexual or romantic pursuits * Advance payment for goods or services * Advance against royalties, a payment to be offset against future royalty p ...

. He was charged with forcible sodomy, statutory sodomy and sexual abuse of a 17-year-old boy at Lutz's residence in 2000, when Lutz was still an active priest. Lutz pleaded not guilty at his court hearing. In 2006, Steve Essner had accused Lutz of sexually abusing him as a minor in 1972 at St. Mary's Cathedral. Due to the age of the alleged crime, Lutz could not be prosecuted due to the Missouri

statute of limitations A statute of limitations, known in civil law systems as a prescriptive period, is a law passed by a legislative body to set the maximum time after an event within which legal proceedings may be initiated. ("Time for commencing proceedings") In m ...

. In April 2020, a diocese investigation determined that Reverend Gary Carr, a diocesan priest in Stoddard County, had "made inappropriate physical/sexual contact" with a male student in the 1990s when the complainant was ten to 13 years old. The diocese forwarded its findings to the Stoddard County Prosecuting Attorney's Office for criminal investigation. On July 20, 2020, the diocese revealed that three more men had accused Carr of sexual abuse when they were minors. The alleged crimes occurred during the 1980s and 1990s when Carr was assigned to positions in Butler County and Jasper County.

Bishops

# Charles Herman Helmsing (1956–1962), appointed Bishop of Kansas City-Saint Joseph # Ignatius Jerome Strecker (1962–1969), appointed Archbishop of Kansas City in Kansas # William Wakefield Baum (1970–1973), appointed Archbishop of Washington and later

Prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...

of the

Congregation for Catholic Education , type = Congregation , seal = Coat of arms Holy See.svg , seal_size = 100px , seal_caption = Coat of arms of the Holy See , logo = , picture =Via della Conciliazione din Roma1.jpg , picture_caption = Palazzo delle Congregazioni in Piazza ...

and Major Penitentiary of the

Apostolic Penitentiary The Apostolic Penitentiary (), formerly called the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Penitentiary, is a dicastery of the Roman Curia and is one of the three ordinary tribunals of the Holy See, Apostolic See. The Apostolic Penitentiary is chiefl ...

(elevated to

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **'' Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **'' Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, ...

in 1976) #

Bernard Francis Law Bernard Francis Law (November 4, 1931 – December 20, 2017) was an American cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, known largely for covering up the serial rape of children by Catholic priests. He served as Archbishop of Boston, archp ...

(1973–1984), appointed

Archbishop of Boston The Archdiocese of Boston ( la, Archidiœcesis Bostoniensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church located in the New England region of the United States. Its territorial remit encompasses the whole of ...

and later Archpriest of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major (created a

in 1985) # John Joseph Leibrecht (1984–2008) #

James Vann Johnston, Jr. James Vann Johnston Jr. (born October 16, 1959) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He has been serving as bishop of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph in Missouri since 2015. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Spring ...

(2008–2015), appointed Bishop of Kansas City-Saint Joseph # Edward M. Rice (2016–present)

High schools

* McAuley Catholic High School – Joplin * Notre Dame High School – Cape Girardeau * Springfield Catholic High School – Springfield

References

External links

Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield–Cape Girardeau Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield–Cape Girardeau, Springfield-Cape Girardeau Springfield-Cape Girardeau Christian organizations established in 1956 Springfield-Cape Girardeau