Catholic dating in Iowa
Catholic dating in Iowa: two Trappist abbeys near Dubuque, Newman centres, young professionals in Des Moines, Vietnamese and Spanish Masses, and the Grotto.
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Short answer
South of Dubuque, two Trappist monasteries keep the hours of prayer less than half an hour apart, and each lives by the work of its hands. The monks of New Melleray, founded in 1849 by monks from Mount Melleray in Ireland, support themselves by making simple wooden caskets. The nuns of Our Lady of the Mississippi, who came to Dubuque in 1964 at the invitation of New Melleray and the archbishop, earn their living making caramels, sold as Monastery Candy.
Since 1995 the two houses have shared one lay association, the Associates of the Iowa Cistercians, and today the nuns' abbess serves the monks as their "Mother Immediate". Both open their churches to visitors: at New Melleray, from Vigils at half past four in the morning to Compline at half past seven at night.
Eighteen places are listed below, each with an address and a link to its own page or its diocese's: the two abbeys and the colleges near them, the Newman centre at the University of Iowa, a young professionals' network in Des Moines, parishes that pray in Vietnamese and Spanish, a Byzantine Divine Liturgy, and the Grotto of the Redemption in West Bend. They are not every parish; they are the places whose pages we could read.
cana.love, whose page this is, is free and built for people who want to marry. It does not serve Catholics alone, and a section below says why.
Catholics in Iowa
Iowa has four dioceses: the Archdiocese of Dubuque in the north-east, and the dioceses of Davenport, Des Moines and Sioux City. The websites of Dubuque, Davenport and Sioux City, and of most of their parishes, refused automated visitors; Des Moines was open throughout. So the Des Moines side of this page is the fullest, and there are no parish cards for Cedar Rapids, Waterloo or Sioux City.
The Diocese of Des Moines lists eight parishes with ministry in Spanish; at Our Lady of the Americas, there is a Spanish Mass every day. Vietnamese Catholics have a home in two dioceses: the cathedral in Davenport has a Sunday Mass in Vietnamese, celebrated for years by priests who come from Divine Word College in Epworth, and St Peter in Des Moines is a Vietnamese community. In Des Moines, a Byzantine Catholic outreach of the Eparchy of Parma celebrates the Divine Liturgy in English at All Saints.
From the abbeys', the dioceses' and the parishes' own pages, opened 24 September 2026
The traditional Latin Mass has been offered in several Iowa cities, but the parishes' own websites were closed to us and schedules have changed since 2021, so the page gives no card for it; ask your diocese.
Where the community gathers
The eighteen places fall into four parts of the state: Dubuque and its monasteries, the east, Des Moines, and the west.
Dubuque and its monasteries
Dubuque and its monasteries hold five: New Melleray Abbey, Our Lady of the Mississippi Abbey, Loras College, Divine Word College in Epworth and the Basilica of St Francis Xavier in Dyersville.
The east
The east holds three: the Newman Catholic Student Center in Iowa City, Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport and Mount Mercy University in Cedar Rapids.
Des Moines
Des Moines holds seven: St Ambrose Cathedral, the diocese's young adult groups, St Peter, Our Lady of the Americas, St Anthony, the Byzantine Liturgy at All Saints, and St Catherine of Siena at Drake.
The west
The west holds three: the Grotto of the Redemption in West Bend, Briar Cliff University in Sioux City and Queen of Apostles in Council Bluffs.
Meeting places worth knowing
A Trappist monastery twelve miles south-west of Dubuque, founded in 1849, where guests may share the daily liturgy and Mass is at eight, nine on Sundays.
6632 Melleray CirclePeosta
IA 52068
A community of Trappist nuns who chant the Liturgy of the Hours seven times a day, with Sunday Mass at half past eight and a guest chapel open to visitors.
8400 Abbey Hill LaneDubuque
IA 52003
A diocesan Catholic college with roots in 1839, with a Sunday evening Mass at half past seven and a one-day contemplative retreat at New Melleray.
1450 Alta Vista StreetDubuque
IA 52001
A seminary for missionaries in the countryside west of Dubuque, whose community welcomes visitors to Mass, on Sunday at ten.
102 Jacoby Drive SWEpworth
IA 52045
A church dedicated in 1889 and made a minor basilica in 1956, whose side doors are open for prayer from seven in the morning to eight at night.
104 3rd Street SWDyersville
IA 52040
The Catholic centre of the University of Iowa, whose Newman Club was formed in 1906, with Sunday Masses at nine, eleven and six and an undergraduate Mass on Thursdays at eight.
104 East Jefferson StreetIowa City
IA 52245
The cathedral of the Diocese of Davenport, in the Cork Hill neighbourhood, with a Sunday Mass in Vietnamese at eleven.
422 East 10th StreetDavenport
IA 52803
A university rooted in the mission of the Sisters of Mercy, whose chapel welcomes everyone to Mass on Sunday and Thursday evenings during term.
1330 Elmhurst Drive NECedar Rapids
IA 52402
The cathedral of the Diocese of Des Moines, established in 1911, with Sunday Mass at half past eight and eleven.
607 High StreetDes Moines
IA 50309
The diocese's young adult community, with the Young Catholic Network for young professionals in their twenties and thirties, which meets once a quarter, and a Catholic Beer Club at local breweries.
601 Grand AvenueDes Moines
IA 50309
A Vietnamese Catholic community with Mass in Vietnamese on Saturday evening and Sunday morning, and an English Mass on Sunday at nine.
618 East 18th StreetDes Moines
IA 50316
A parish with Mass in Spanish every weekday at half past five, two Spanish Masses on Sunday and a bilingual Mass at eight.
1271 East 9th StreetDes Moines
IA 50316
A south side parish with two Sunday Masses in Spanish, and a Litany of Our Lady of Mount Carmel after the half past eight Mass.
15 Indianola RoadDes Moines
IA 50315
A Latin parish that hosts the St Andrew of Crete Byzantine Catholic Outreach, of the Eparchy of Parma, whose Divine Liturgy is celebrated in English, with a cantor, on Sunday at eleven.
650 NE 52nd AvenueDes Moines
IA 50313
The Catholic parish and student centre at Drake University; while its building is repaired after water damage, Sunday Masses, including a five o'clock student Mass, are in the Sussman Theater in the Olmsted Center.
1150 28th StreetDes Moines
IA 50311
A shrine of nine grottos telling the story of the fall and redemption, begun by the parish priest of West Bend in 1912 and open day and night; West Bend's parish of Saints Peter and Paul has Sunday Mass at ten.
208 1st Avenue NWWest Bend
IA 50597
A Franciscan university whose chapel, completed in 1959, has a Sunday evening Mass at seven for students and the neighbourhood.
3303 Rebecca StreetSioux City
IA 51104
A church of Corpus Christi Parish, across the Missouri from Omaha, with a Sunday Mass in Spanish at noon.
3304 4th AvenueCouncil Bluffs
IA 51501
Some places appear without a card. St Ambrose University in Davenport has a chapel for its students, but the schedule we could read was last year's. Iowa State in Ames and the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls have Catholic student centres whose websites we could not find. The Byzantine outreach also celebrates in Iowa City on the third Sunday of the month.
Distances that decide everything
A diagram, not a map. Driving times, as in the text.
Around Dubuque, the two abbeys, Loras, Epworth and Dyersville are all within about half an hour of each other: a day's round. Davenport and Cedar Rapids are about an hour and a half from Dubuque; Iowa City is about forty minutes from Cedar Rapids and a little over an hour from Davenport.
Des Moines is about two hours west of Iowa City, and Council Bluffs about two hours further west. The Grotto at West Bend is around three hours from Des Moines, and Sioux City more than five hours from Dubuque.
So Catholic Iowa is a row of cities along the interstates, with the monasteries as a quiet corner in the north-east. Inside a city, two people can meet after work; across the state, it is a weekend.
The cana.love form asks where you live and whether you would move, which puts the distance on the table from the start.
The Catholic year in Iowa
Vigils with the monks
New Melleray, at half past four, the first office of the day.
Mass at Mississippi Abbey
With the Trappist nuns, at half past eight.
Young Catholic Network
Young professionals in Des Moines, with drinks and conversation.
Catholic Beer Club
Young adults at breweries around the Des Moines metro.
Spanish Mass in Des Moines
Our Lady of the Americas, at half past five.
Student Mass in Iowa City
The Newman Center's undergraduate Mass, at eight.
Dating as a practising Catholic in Iowa
Vigils with the Trappists, a Vietnamese Mass in Davenport, a Byzantine Liturgy in Des Moines and a Spanish Mass on the south side: Catholics in Iowa pray in many ways. cana.love asks which is yours.
Mass, fasting and Scripture, each asked
How often you are at Mass is asked on a scale of five, from weekly to rarely. Fasting, Scripture and what brought you to the site each have their own question, and you choose which answers others see.
Parish and meaning, in your own words
Parish and meaning are typed, not ticked: a Trappist abbey above the Mississippi and a Newman centre in Iowa City are not two options on a menu.
Spanish is one of five languages
The site speaks English, Spanish, Portuguese, German and Russian.
Checked first, free, no password
Profiles and photos wait for review before anyone sees them, first by software and then by a person when it matters. The rules forbid asking members for money, and fraud removes an account permanently, without warning. It costs nothing, nothing renews, and sign-in is a one-time link or code by email, not a password.
What cana.love is and is not
cana.love is not a Catholic-only platform.
Orthodox Christians, Protestants and people still looking for their church are welcome too, if they want the same kind of marriage, and your privacy settings decide who can find you. The Catholic parishes of Iowa pray in Vietnamese and Spanish as well as English, and a site that closed its door would be narrower than they are. Its one promise is on show: every profile states faith, practice and intentions, to be read before you reply. Cana SpA, a Chilean company, runs the site; the About page has more.
Meeting safely
- Make the first meeting a daytime one in a public place, with a time to leave agreed: coffee after Mass, a café in the East Village of Des Moines or on the Ped Mall in Iowa City. Tell a friend where you are going and, if the drive home is I-80 after dark, when to expect you. Your address can wait.
- On money, one rule: before you have met face to face, send nothing, lend nothing and pay for no one's travel, whatever the story. We act on a single report.
The community guidelines cover what happens after a report and how to appeal.
Common questions
Can I visit the monasteries near Dubuque?
Yes: New Melleray welcomes guests to its daily liturgy from Vigils to Compline, and the nuns of Our Lady of the Mississippi welcome visitors to the Eucharist and the Hours in their guest chapel.
Which young adult group names an age?
The Young Catholic Network in Des Moines, for young professionals in their twenties and thirties.
Are there Masses in other languages?
Vietnamese at the Davenport cathedral and at St Peter in Des Moines; Spanish at Our Lady of the Americas and St Anthony in Des Moines and at Queen of Apostles in Council Bluffs.
Is there an Eastern Catholic liturgy?
Yes: the Byzantine Divine Liturgy at All Saints in Des Moines on Sundays, and in Iowa City once a month.
Is there anything for students?
The Newman Center at the University of Iowa, Loras, Mount Mercy, Briar Cliff, and St Catherine of Siena at Drake.
Can I use cana.love anywhere in Iowa?
Yes, from eighteen, in any browser, without installing anything.
Next steps
In Des Moines, go to a Young Catholic Network evening; near Dubuque, spend a morning with the Trappists. And if you would rather know how someone practises before the first meeting, open a free cana.love profile and read theirs.
Reviewed on September 24, 2026.