KANSAS CITY, DIOCESE OF. - A city in the State of Missouri, in the United States of America. The diocese comprises the part of the State of Missouri south of the river of the same name and the areas to the east and west of the counties of Moniteau, Miller, Camden, Laclede, Wright, Douglas, and Ozark, with a total area of 23,539 square miles.
It has a population of 1,216,239 inhabitants, of whom 85,000 are Catholics. It has 101 parishes, 69 chapels, 32 missions, and 2 stations; 142 diocesan priests and 106 regular priests; one seminary (St. John's Catholic Seminary); 13 male religious communities, among which the Benedictine abbey of the Conception; 26 female religious communities; two colleges; 16 diocesan high schools; 62 parochial schools. In 1949 there were 844 conversions.
The diocese was created by Leo XIII on 10 Sept. 1880; its first bishop was Msgr. J. J. Hogan, transferred from the diocese of St. Joseph, of which he became apostolic administrator; in 1896 he had as coadjutor Msgr. J. J. Glennon, who was promoted in 1903 to archbishop of St. Louis and in 1946 to cardinal (1862-1946). Successors: T. F. Lillis (1913-38); from 1938 Msgr. F. V. O'Hara.
The cathedral is dedicated to the Immaculate Conception; the diocese is a suffragan of St. Louis.