St. Francis of Assisi Campus
About the Property
About the Property
Just minutes from downtown Springfield and the Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport, the St. Francis of Assisi Campus is a wooded, scenic, and tranquil setting for a growing community of Catholic religious houses and apostolates, including:
The St. Francis of Assisi Campus is devoted to the four pillars of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois: Hospitality, Prayer, Formation, and Service and is owned and directed by a trust specifically devoted to the care and mission of the campus.
Event Inquiry
Visit St. Francis of Assisi Church and Campus Grounds
Host an Event
The St. Francis of Assisi Office and Conference Center and St. Francis of Assisi Church are available for group events that further the mission of the campus to promote the Catholic faith in formation and in service. Space is available for retreats, offsite meetings, workshops and conferences. Onsite food service is available for meals, and arrangements can be made for small groups or larger groups as well.
Interested in reserving space at the St. Francis of Assisi Campus? Please click below to submit an Inquiry Form. Add a button with link to the inquiry form and title it: Inquires
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History
A Brief History
The St. Francis of Assisi Campus has been the home of the Hospital Sisters of St. Francis for more than a century. The Hospital Sisters first established their home and ministry at St. John’s Hospital in Springfield but outgrew this space as their community and hospital ministry expanded. They acquired several hundred acres of land on the northeast side of Springfield, including what is now the St. Francis of Assisi Campus, where they built a tuberculosis sanitarium, convent, and the majestic St. Francis of Assisi Church.
In the mid 2000’s, the Hospital Sisters replaced the original convent and sanitarium buildings with all-new structures, including a new convent and the Chiara Center retreat and conference center. As the Chiara Center was permanently closed during the COVID-19 pandemic and ceased operations, and as the sisters’ needs for use of the buildings and grounds were significantly scaled back over time, the Hospital Sisters reached an agreement with the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois in 2021 to establish a Trust that assumed ownership and operation of the building and grounds, with the sisters remaining as residents.
The Trust worked to establish the St. Francis Catholic Services Corporation as a facilities and property management entity for the campus and, in order to secure a productive, stable, long-term future for the property in service of the Church’s mission, the Trust has engaged with various Catholic religious communities and apostolates around the country to establish homes and operations at the campus.
Through these efforts, Corpus Christi Priory was erected on July 1, 2023, the Evermode Institute was launched in the fall of 2023, and the San Damiano College for the Trades was established at the campus on June 19, 2024. On April 27th, 2024, Bishop Paprocki commemorated the 100th anniversary of the dedication of St. Francis of Assisi Church, including a celebration of Mass in the Church with Bishop Kevin Vann (Bishop of the Diocese of Orange, native son and priest of the Diocese of Springfield and former employee of the Hospital Sisters), the Norbertine Fathers of Corpus Christi Priory and representatives of the Abbot’s Leadership Council from St. Michael’s Abbey, and priests of the diocese of Springfield concelebrating.
