The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception is the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Springfield, Illinois

Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield in Illinois

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield in Illinois is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the south central Illinois region of the United States...

. The cathedral, for which the cornerstone was laid on August 14, 1927, was dedicated on October 14, 1928. The cathedral complex is built in a modified Greek Revival

Greek Revival architecture

The Greek Revival was an architectural movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in Northern Europe and the United States. A product of Hellenism, it may be looked upon as the last phase in the development of Neoclassical architecture...

 architectural style.

Description

The cathedral was built and consecrated under the leadership of James Aloysius Griffin

James Aloysius Griffin

James Aloysius Griffin was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Springfield in Illinois from 1924 until his death in 1948.-Biography:...

, fourth bishop of the diocese - but the first bishop to be based in the state capital city, Springfield (the diocese had previously been seated in Quincy, Illinois

Quincy, Illinois

Quincy, known as Illinois' "Gem City," is a river city along the Mississippi River and the county seat of Adams County. As of the 2010 census the city held a population of 40,633. The city anchors its own micropolitan area and is the economic and regional hub of West-central Illinois, catering a...

 and then in Alton, Illinois

Alton, Illinois

Alton is a city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, United States, about north of St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 27,865 at the 2010 census. It is a part of the Metro-East region of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area in Southern Illinois...

).

The cathedral complex is faced with Mankato stone, also called "Mankato Kasota stone," a golden limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 quarried in Mankato, Minnesota

Mankato, Minnesota

Mankato is a city in Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Sueur counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 39,309 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth largest city in Minnesota outside of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. The county seat of Blue Earth County, it is located...

. Like many cathedral complexes, it also contains working space for the bishop

Bishop

A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

 and staff. An elementary school

Elementary school

An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...

 building forms the southern component of the complex. The cathedral itself is consecrated to the doctrine of the Immmaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary

Immaculate Conception

The Immaculate Conception of Mary is a dogma of the Roman Catholic Church, according to which the Virgin Mary was conceived without any stain of original sin. It is one of the four dogmata in Roman Catholic Mariology...

, and is under the patronage of the Blessed Mother

Mary (mother of Jesus)

Mary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee...

.

The cathedral is the second building in Springfield to be consecrated to the Immaculate Conception, the first being a Catholic church in use from 1858 until 1928. When the seat of the diocese was moved to Springfield in 1923, the diocese needed a larger building to serve as cathedral space. After completion of the cathedral, the nearby Lincoln-era

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...

church was de-consecrated and removed.

The cathedral complex's official address is 524 East Lawrence Avenue in Springfield, Illinois.