Diocese of Springfield–Cape Girardeau Dioecesis Campifontis–Capitis Girardeauensis |
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Location | |
Country | United States |
Territory | 39 counties across Southern Missouri |
Ecclesiastical province | St. Louis |
Statistics | |
Area | 25,719 km2 (9,930 sq mi) |
Population - Total - Catholics |
(as of 2010) 1,269,180 68,217 (5.4%) |
Parishes | 66 |
Information | |
Denomination | Roman Catholic |
Rite | Roman Rite |
Established | August 24, 1956 (61 years ago) |
Cathedral | St. Agnes Cathedral (Springfield) |
Co-cathedral | Cathedral of St. Mary of the Annunciation (Cape Girardeau) |
Patron saint | Rose Philippine Duchesne, Pope Pius X |
Current leadership | |
Pope | Francis |
Bishop | Edward M. Rice |
Emeritus Bishops | John Joseph Leibrecht |
Map | |
Website | |
dioscg.org |
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield–Cape Girardeau (Latin: Dioecesis Campifontis–Capitis Girardeauensis) is a Roman Catholic diocese in Missouri. The diocese is governed by Bishop Edward M. Rice.
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.
In 1975, Bishop Bernard Francis Law sponsored the priests and brothers of the Congregation of the Mother Coredemptrix who arrived from Vietnam, inviting them to buy a vacant Oblates of Mary Immaculate seminary, Our Lady of the Ozarks College in Carthage, for $1, to use as their U.S. monastery and shrine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Since 1978, the shrine has hosted an annual Marian Days celebration, the largest Roman Catholic festival in the United States.