After a generous donation from an anonymous donor, St. George Catholic Church has recently refurbished a former Evangelical/Pentecostal church off a main thoroughfare in Republic to make it suitable for Catholic worship. Up until now, St. George Catholic Church has been gathering in what was formally known as “Little Portion,” a Franciscan retreat center. But, since being established in 2016 as a Catholic Church in Republic within the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, the congregation has outgrown the space. The new building will quadruple the seating capacity for congregants pastored by Fr. Chori Seraiah.

The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter is fully Catholic, a jurisdiction created by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012 for those with an attachment to the Anglican Patrimony, which can be summarized as the traditions, liturgy, and spirituality that comes from Medieval England. The Anglican Patrimony is generally what one might call “High Church,” which means it has many traditional characteristics. For example, liturgy is usually celebrated with the priest facing ad orientem (liturgical east) and Communion is usually served on the tongue while kneeling. The Holy See re-adopted the Patrimony back into the Catholic Church, as part of welcoming Anglicans who return to Catholicism. As a parish of the Ordinariate, St. George Catholic Church is recognized by and operates in communion with the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau in cooperation with Bp. Edward M. Rice. A member of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), The Most Rev. Stephen Lopes is the Bishop of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter; his cathedral is Our Lady of Walsingham in Houston, TX. More information may be found about St. George Catholic Church on its Website: saint-george-church.net, and the diocesan Website here.