[5] During this period, the Catholics in the region were under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of San Cristobal de la Habana, based in Havana, Cuba.

[6] In 1803, with the signing of the Louisiana Purchase, the United States took control from France of a vast area of the continent, including Missouri.

Pope Pius VII in 1815 named Reverend Louis Dubourg from the Diocese of Baltimore as the first bishop of Louisiana and the Two Floridas.

[7][8] Wanting to train American priests for his vast diocese, DuBourg established St. Mary's of the Barrens Seminary in Perryville in 1818,[7] placing it under the charge of the Lazarist fathers.

[9] In August 1818, he recruited Sister Rose Philippine Duchesne from the Society of the Sacred Heart in France, to open girls schools in the diocese.

[14] In 1823, at DuBourg's invitation, the Society of Jesus sent several Belgian priests to Florissant, where they began ministering to Native American converts.

In 1837, Pope Gregory XVI erected the Diocese of Dubuque, covering the present-day states of Iowa, Minnesota, and the Dakotas.

The oath was a tactic promoted by Republicans to block former officials of the Confederacy from holding influential positions in society.

Reverend John A. Cummings challenged the legality of the oath in a case that reached the United States Supreme Court.

In May 1893, Pope Leo XIII appointed Bishop John Kain from the Diocese of Wheeling as coadjutor archbishop to assist Kenrick.

Saint Louis University began admitting African American students in the summer of 1943 after its president, Reverend Patrick Holloran, gained Glennon's approval.

[43] Ritter also developed what is now known as the Annual Catholic Appeal, which remains a primary source of financial support for many archdiocesan educational and charitable activities.

[45] In 1964, following reforms of the Second Vatican Council, Ritter celebrated the world's first authorized mass in English at Kiel Auditorium in St.

On February 14, 1968, Pope Paul VI named Bishop John Carberry of the Diocese of Columbus as the fifth archbishop of St.

[46] In 1969, Carberry removed 60 seminarians from a class at the Saint Louis University Divinity School because a Presbyterian scholar was teaching a segment on Pauls' epistles.

[55] In 1990, with Sister Mary Ann Eckhoff and businessman Robert A. Brooks, May co-founded the Today and Tomorrow Educational Foundation.

In 1994, John Paul II named Bishop Justin Rigali from the Roman Curia as the seventh archbishop of St.

Rigali was widely credited as an able administrator and effective fundraiser, although observers said that his popularity dimmed as his tenure continued.

To replace him, John Paul II that same year named Bishop Raymond Burke from the Diocese of La Crosse as the next archbishop of St.

[60][61][62] Burke invited the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest (ICKSP), a traditionalist Catholic order, into the archdiocese.

In 2005, its pastor, Reverend Marek Bozek, led a Christmas Eve mass at the church, despite the archdiocese having closed it.

[64] In 2006, when voters approved an amendment to the Missouri State Constitution permitting embryonic stem cell research, Burke said it meant that "our tiniest brothers and sisters ... will be made legally the subjects, the slaves, of those who wish to manipulate and destroy their lives for the sake of supposed scientific and technological progress.

Pope Benedict XVI named Bishop Robert Carlson from the Diocese of Saginaw as the ninth archbishop of St. Louis on April 21, 2009.

To replace Carlson, Pope Francis named Bishop Mitchell T. Rozanski from Springfield in Massachusetts as the next archbishop of St. Louis.

[77][78] Rozanski noted;"The church experience in our parishes today is not the same as it was 50 years ago, yet we are still functioning in many ways out of the same mode of evangelization with the same structures.

[81] In July 2019, the archdiocese released the names of 64 clergy who were credibly accused of committing acts of sexual abuse.

[82] In 2019, the Missouri Attorney General identified over 160 instances of archdiocesan priests and deacons sexually abusing minors.

[85] In June 2023, the archdiocese agreed to pay $1 million to settle a lawsuit by a man who alleged he was raped when an altar boy from fourth through sixth grade[80] by a since-defrocked priest who has been required to register as a sex offender.

[85][80] In July 2024, 25 former attendees of archdiocesan churches and schools sued the archdiocese, stating that its leadership knew about rampant incidents of sexual abuse.

One former altar boy says he was sexually abused between 2008 and 2011 by Reverend William Vatterott, who was later convicted of possession of child pornography.