SAINT JOSEPH (SAINT JOSEPH), DIOCESE OF
A significant subject of discussion during the Second Plenary Council held in Baltimore on October 7, 1866, was the question of establishing new dioceses to foster closer contact with souls. As a result, a portion of the State of Missouri was detached from the Archdiocese of Saint Louis to form a new diocese at Saint Joseph. The city, founded by the Catholic Joseph Robidoux, already had 1,900 inhabitants in 1849 and 600 families, 3,000 inhabitants, and 5 diocesan priests were present in the diocese at the time of its establishment.
Erected on March 3, 1868, Saint Jerome covers a territory of 12,206 square miles. The total population is 594,558, 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 June 16, 1911, Saint Jerome was given the following boundaries: to the north, the State of Iowa; to the east, the Mississippi River; to the west, the Missouri River; and to the south, the Missouri River and the northern borders of Howard, Boone, Audrain, and Pike counties.
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, a diocesan seminary (24 seminarians), religious seminaries (Conception Abbey, O.S.B., 30 seminarians), 2 orphanages, and 4 hospitals.