1600 to 1900

The first Catholic presence in Missouri was from European explorers in the 17th century traveling the Mississippi River. At that time, all of Missouri was part of the French colony of Louisiana.

With the Louisiana Purchase of 1804, Missouri passed from France to the United States and the bishop of the Diocese of Louisiana and the Two Floridas assumed jurisdiction for Catholics in Missouri.^[3] In 1826, Pope Leo XII erected the Diocese of St. Louis, covering the new state of Missouri along with vast areas of the Great Plains.^[4] The southern Missouri area would remain part of this parish for the next 130 years.

In 1825, Reverend John Timon celebrated the first mass in Cape Girardeau and in 1833 dedicated the first church there.^[5] The oldest parish in Springfield, Immaculate Conception, was established in 1868.^[6] In Joplin, the first Catholic church was started in 1878.^[7] Our Lady of the Lake, the only Catholic church in Branson, was dedicated in 1922.^[8]

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 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.^[9] In 1962, Helmsing became bishop of the Diocese of Kansas City-Saint Joseph.

The second bishop of Springfield-Cape Girardeau was Monsignor Ignatius Jerome Strecker from the Diocese of Wichita, named by Pope John XXIII in 1962. Strecker was elevated to archbishop of the Archdiocese of Kansas City (in Kansas) in 1969.^[10]

To replaced Strecker in Springfield-Cape Girardeau, Pope Paul VI 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 in 1973.

1973 to present

Paul VI then named Bishop Bernard Law of the Diocese of Natchez-Jackson to replace Baum.^[11] In 1975, Law sponsored the immigration of the priests and brothers of the Congregation of the Mother Coredemptrix to the United States, which was forced to leave Vietnam after the end of the Vietnam War. He bought the former Our Lady of the Ozarks College of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate in Carthage for the Congregation for one dollar a year to use as their monastery and shrine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.^[12][13] Law also formed the Missouri Christian Leadership Conference. In 1984, Law became archbishop of the Archdiocese of Boston.

Reverend John Joseph Leibrecht of St. Louis became the fifth bishop of Kansas City-St. Joseph in 1984, appointed by Pope John Paul II.^[14] After 23 years of service as bishop, Leibrecht retired in 2008. The next bishop in the diocese was Reverend James Vann Johnston Jr. of the Diocese of Knoxville, named by Pope Benedict XVI in 2008. He was named in 2015 as bishop of Kansas City-Saint Joseph.^[15]

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.^[16]

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.^[17]

In April 2019, the diocese released a list of 19 clergy with credible accusations of sexual abuse of minor.^[18] Bishop Rice said that the diocese had spent over $300,000 settling sexual abuse claims since 1989.^[18] 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. 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.^[19][20] Lutz pleaded not guilty at his court hearing.^[21] 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.^[19][22]

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.^[23] The diocese forwarded its findings to the Stoddard County Prosecuting Attorney's Office for criminal investigation.^[23] In July

2020, the diocese revealed that three more men had accused Carr of sexual abuse when they were minors.^[24] The alleged crimes occurred during the 1980s and 1990s when Carr was assigned to positions in Butler County and Jasper County.^[24]