Conception Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in northwest Missouri, established on December 8, 1873, by monks from Engelberg Abbey in Switzerland at the request of settlers seeking to establish the Church in the region; it was elevated to an abbey in 1881. A member of the Swiss-American Congregation of the Benedictine Confederation, the community operates Conception Seminary College and the Abbey Guest Center, and maintains The Printery House, its publishing and greeting-card apostolate. Its Basilica of the Immaculate Conception is a minor basilica.