Archdiocese of Louisville Bicentennial

Early Catholicism in Kentucky

Exterior of the Cathedral of the Assumption, set in the middle of the City of Louisville.

The first Catholics came into Kentucky among the earliest settlers from the coastal colonies in 1775. They included Jane Coomes, believed to be the first teacher in Kentucky, and George Hart, the first physician. Not until 1785 did larger groups, or "leagues," of Catholic families from Maryland begin to enter the region.

These settlers were almost exclusively of British lineage, although many brought with them enslaved African Americans who practiced the Catholic faith. While a few families settled in the Bluegrass, the majority chose an area of promising farmland near Bardstown in central Kentucky. Within a decade, three hundred Catholics were known to live in the area. Even two centuries later, the three rural counties of Marion, Nelson and Washington have significant Catholic populations and are regionally known as "The Kentucky Holy Land."

These frontier Catholics, called by their earlier historian Martin John Spalding "an iron race of pioneers," chose to come west in large groupings in order to sustain their ancestral faith through solidarity and also to strengthen their appeals for a priest to come eventually to the region. Thus, the earliest congregations of Kentucky were lay-gathered, in contrast to the clergy-led initial Catholic settlements on the East and West Coasts.

The Basilica of Joseph Proto-Cathedral in Bardstown, Kentucky.

The earliest resident priests to arrive in Kentucky were Maurice Whelan and William de Rohan, but neither remained long in pastoral service. With the arrival of the twenty-six-year-old Stephen Badin, the first priest to have been ordained in America, clerical stability came to Kentucky. With Badin as leader, other priests came to the region, most notably Charles Nerinckx and the Dominican friars, who made their first American foundation in Washington County in 1805.

The First Inland Diocese of the United States

On April 8, 1808, Pope Pius VII subdivided the primal see of Baltimore by constituting the Dioceses of Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Bardstown. To head the latter see, the first in inland America, the Holy See named Benedict Joseph Flaget who, like Badin, was an exile from the turmoil of the French Revolution.

This "First Bishop of the West" arrived in Kentucky in 1811. Flaget's far-flung area of responsibility covered all the land from the Great Lakes to the Deep South and from the Allegheny Mountains to the Mississippi River. From this "mega-diocese" there would eventually be carved more than forty new dioceses, including Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Chicago, and Detroit.

With the arrival of Flaget there began an amazing burst of fervor and institutional energies. Within a dozen years, Flaget would initiate or encourage the following establishments, including many that were the first of their kind in the American West: St. Thomas Seminary (1811), the Sisters of Loretto (1812), the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth (1812), St. Joseph Cathedral at Bardstown (1819), St. Joseph College (1820), St. Mary College (1821), and the Dominican Sisters at Springfield (1822). From such institutions and communities would emerge many of the leaders of American Catholicism in the nineteenth century.

Within the forty years of his tenure, Flaget would welcome to Kentucky Good Shepherd Sisters, Jesuit Fathers and the Trappist monks of Gethsemani Abbey. In addition to such eighteenth-century Holy Land parishes as Holy Cross (1785), St. Charles (1786), and Holy Mary's (1798), Flaget would be responsible for a growing network of congregations such as St. Louis at Louisville (1805), St. Peter at Lexington (1818), Holy Name at Henderson (1824), and Mutter Gottes (Mother of God) at Covington (1842).

Mother Angela Sansburry, founder of the Dominion sisterhood in the United States

Catholic Urban Life in the Nineteenth Century

Late in 1841, the seat of the diocese moved from Bardstown to the city of Louisville, whose population was swelling from the inflow of Germans and Irish. An anti-immigrant riot called "Bloody Monday" in that city on August 6, 1855, resulted in more than twenty deaths.

Louisville's Civil War bishop was the Kentucky-born scholar and writer Martin John Spalding. He oversaw construction of the city's Cathedral of the Assumption (1852) and welcomed the Belgian Xaverian Brothers to their first American foundation (1854) as well as the German Ursuline Sisters (1858). Spalding's successor as Bishop of Louisville was Peter Joseph Lavialle, a native of France and cousin of Bishop Chabrat who came to the United States to serve as a priest in the Diocese of Louisville. Lavialle was not a healthy man, however, and died after only two years as bishop. In 1868, William George McCloskey, first rector of the North American College in Rome, was consecrated as Bishop of Louisville. During his forty-year reign, McCloskey was successful in bringing religious orders of service into the diocese, and he attended to institutional growth by creating new parishes throughout the diocese. At the time of his death he was the oldest Catholic bishop in the United States and had come to be known as the "Nestor of the American Hierarchy."

The Twentieth-Century Experience

Denis O’Donaghue succeeded Bishop McCloskey. Bishop O’Donaghue was called to shepherd the flock during some very difficult days, including World War I and an influenza epidemic. He was an able and gentle man but he became incapacitated by 1924 and was replaced by Nashville native John A. Floersh, known for his piety, caution, and planning abilities. In 1924, Floersh began an episcopate that was to endure for more than 40 years and that helped to shape the diocese profoundly during the middle years of the 20th century.

In 1937 Louisville was constituted a metropolitan see (an archdiocese) with both the Diocese of Covington (established in 1853) and the newly established Diocese of Owensboro as suffragans. The Holy See erected the Diocese of Lexington in 1988.

Several Kentuckians were in official attendance at the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), including Bishop Charles Garrett Maloney, auxiliary bishop to Archbishops Floersh, McDonough, and Kelly; J.L. Garrett of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; and Sister of Loretto Mary Luke Tobin, the only American female auditor at the council. In these same years, Trappist monk Thomas Merton from his Kentucky abbey of Gethsemani wrote an array of highly influential books in the areas of Christian spirituality, Oriental religions, interfaith understanding and social justice.

In 1967, Philadelphia-born cleric Thomas J. McDonough succeeded Archbishop Floersh. Archbishop McDonough called himself a "Vatican II bishop," and he shepherded the local Church through its most intensive period of activity and change since the days of the early Church in Kentucky. Archbishop McDonough resigned in 1981 and was succeeded by Archbishop Thomas C. Kelly, O.P, who had served as the General Secretary of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops before coming to Louisville. He served the Archdiocese for 25 years and established a strategic planning process that guided many initiatives in the areas of social services, evangelization, lay ministry, multicultural ministry, pastoral care, and education/formation.

Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz, D.D.

The Louisville area has been noted throughout the country during the last generation for its ecumenical and interfaith initiatives. In 1985, the city's Center for Interfaith Relations (formerly the Cathedral Heritage Foundation) and Cathedral parishioners turned their old church into a nationally recognized urban emblem of faith. A center of worship, art, spirituality and social service, it has been celebrated as a model civic symbol that is Catholic in its roots, inner city and interfaith in its outreach.

While Catholics are represented in the Kentucky legislature, none has ever served as full-time governor of the commonwealth. In 1994 Third District (Louisville-area) Congressman Ron Mazzoli retired after twelve consecutive terms in Washington. Anne Meagher Northup, a former delegate to the Kentucky legislature, held this seat from 1994 to 2006.

In June of 2007, Pennsylvania native and Bishop of Knoxville, Joseph E. Kurtz, D.D. was appointed the ninth bishop (and fourth Archbishop) of the Archdiocese of Louisville. Today, the Archdiocese of Louisville extends throughout 24 counties in Central Kentucky and serves nearly 200,000 Catholics.

Adapted from the Encyclopedia of American Catholic History and Faith and Mission: Parish Histories in Celebration of the 200th Anniversary of the Archdiocese, both written by Fr. Clyde F. Crews

Bishop Flaget's territory encompassed an area that is now more that 40 dioceses in 10 states.

Serving God’s People: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

In 2008 the Archdiocese of Louisville celebrates 200 years as a Roman Catholic diocese. It shares the honor of being among the earliest dioceses in the United States with the Archdiocese of New York, the Archdiocese of Boston, and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, which also were founded in 1808. Only the Archdiocese of Baltimore (1789) and the Archdiocese of New Orleans (1793) were established earlier. The Diocese of Bardstown was founded as the first inland diocese in the United States on April 8, 1808. Its see city moved to Louisville in 1841, and the Diocese of Louisville was elevated to an Archdiocese in 1937.

The Diocese of Bardstown included the states of Kentucky and Tennessee. The first bishop of the diocese, Benedict Joseph Flaget, was given pastoral responsibility for a huge territory to the north and west of Kentucky. Today, more than 40 dioceses in ten states have descended from the Diocese of Bardstown.

The theme for the bicentennial celebration is "Serving God’s People: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow." Bicentennial events began in March 2007 and will continue throughout 2008. Highlights of the bicentennial celebration include:

Formation/Education

Parish Formation: Materials have been developed for 4 parish – or regionally based – formation events. These three-hour intergenerational events will focus on the themes of beginning, remembering, celebrating, and missioning. These events include prayer, fellowship, and discussion along with creative activities for all ages. Parishes are encouraged to use the materials quarterly beginning in the fall of 2007 with the three other units to be used in the spring of 2008, summer of 2008, and fall of 2008. However, the units can be used at other times and can be incorporated into already existing parish formation programs.

School/Religious Education: A manual of grade specific activities and lesson plans were developed for use in Catholic elementary schools and parish catechetical programs. This manual provides teachers and religious educators with resources to immerse students in the study of the Archdiocese from its earliest roots to the present time. It includes lessons in all subject areas and across all grade levels. There are 121 lessons including one for kindergarteners on the number 200, a research project dealing with the patron saints of archdiocesan parishes and schools for intermediate students, and a middle school lesson that requires students to map the counties of the Archdiocese. The curriculum guide also contains lessons in special area subjects such as art, music, and physical education. This manual has been distributed to parishes and schools throughout the Archdiocese.

The baptismal font is in the foreground of this view towards the altar

The kick-off event for the bicentennial was an institute for parish leaders on March 24, 2007. Entitled "Leadership and Ministry in a Changing Church," this conference featured a keynote presentation by Fr. J. Glenn Murray, S.J. Nearly 400 individuals attended and discussed critical issues in multicultural ministry, worship, evangelization, and parish planning.

History:

Faith and Mission: Parish Histories in Celebration of the 200th Anniversary of the Archdiocese of Louisville, 1808-2008, a full-color history of the parishes of the Archdiocese of Louisville was shipped to parishes in November, 2007.

The Catholic Extension Society has produced a 2008 bicentennial calendar and has made it available to participating parishes in late October/early November of 2007.

Two historical documentaries will be aired during 2008 and will be available for sale: The Kentucky Holy Lands and the History of African American Catholics.

Worship:

April 8, 2008: Day of Catholic Prayer on the Official Founding Date of the Archdiocese:
• Mass (8:30 a.m.) at St. Thomas Parish in Bardstown, presided by Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz. 9:30 a.m. Reception and presentation by local genealogist and historian Gerald Thompson.
• Noon Mass at the Cathedral of the Assumption in Louisville, presided by Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz.
• Vespers (7:00 p.m.) at the Basilica of St. Joseph Proto-Cathedral in Bardstown, followed by a presentation by archdiocesan historian Fr. Clyde F. Crews and coffee and dessert reception.

Youth and youth ministers from throughout the Archdiocese will participate in the Kentucky Derby Festival’s annual Pegasus Parade and the archdiocesan bicentennial will be recognized.

June 6-8, 2008: Traveling Concert: "Celebrate the Sacred Song: Two Hundred Years of Singing Praise to the Lord."
• Friday, June 6, 2008, 7 p.m., St. Augustine, Lebanon
• Saturday, June 7, 2008, 7:30 p.m., Cathedral of the Assumption, Louisville
• Sunday, June 8, 2008, 2 p.m., Basilica of St. Joseph Proto-Cathedral, Bardstown

June 29, 2008: Archdiocesan-wide liturgy, concert, and celebration will take place beginning at 2:30 p.m. at Slugger Field in Louisville, Kentucky. The concert will feature local musician Patrick Hughes, local band The Monarchs, and the group America.

Sunday, September 28, 2008: 11:30 a.m. outdoor Mass on the grounds of the Basilica of St. Joseph Proto-Cathedral, presided by Most Reverend Edwin F. O’Brien, Archbishop of Baltimore.

April 8, 2009: 7:00 p.m. Vespers Service, presided by Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz, to close the bicentennial year with the burial of a time capsule on the grounds of the Basilica of St. Joseph Proto-Cathedral in Bardstown.

A bicentennial prayer card has been distributed to parishes.

The production and distribution of matching liturgical vestments for all archdiocesan priests was completed and used by the concelebrating bishops at Archbishop Kurtz’s installation.

Other:

Bicentennial radio spots aired in January and April of 2008.
A "Bicentennial Trivia Quiz" was developed for parish trivia contests and quick recall teams have been created.
Parishes have received a bulletin blurb on the bicentennial to use each week.
The Record will run a series of articles and special sections in 2008.