Saint Joseph, Diocese of

SAN GIUSEPPE (SAINT JOSEPH), DIOCESI di. — Diocese and city in the State of Missouri (U.S.A.).

An important subject of discussion during the Second Plenary Council, convened at Baltimore on 7 October 1866, was the question of founding new dioceses in order to establish closer contact with souls. Consequently, part of the State of Missouri was detached from the archdiocese of S. Luigi to form a new diocese at S. G. The city, founded by the Catholic Giuseppe Robidoux, already had 1,900 inhabitants in 1849; there were 600 families, 3,000 inhabitants, and 5 diocesan priests in the diocese at the time of its foundation.

Erected on 3 March 1868, S. G. covers a territory of 12,206 square miles. The total population is 594,558 souls, of whom 33,526 are Catholic. It originally extended over the territory between the Missouri River and the Chariton River in Missouri. By apostolic letter of 16 June 1911, S. G. was assigned the following boundaries: to the north, the State of Iowa; to the east, the Mississippi; to the west, Missouri; and to the south, the Missouri River and the northern boundaries of the counties of Howard, Boone, Andrain, and Pike.

There are 113 priests (of whom 48 are religious: Congregation of the Most Precious Blood, Conventuals, Benedictines), 64 parishes, 27 chapels, 21 missions, 24 stations, 1 diocesan seminary (24 seminarians), 1 religious seminary (Conception Abbey, O.S.B., 30 seminarians), 2 orphanages, and 4 hospitals.