Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville
The Archdiocese of Louisville is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church that consists of twenty-four counties in the central American state of Kentucky, covering . As of 2018, the archdiocese contains approximately 200,000 Catholics in 66,000 households, served by one hundred twenty-two parishes and missions staffed by one hundred sixty-six diocesan priests, one hundred twelve permanent deacons, fifty-two religious institute priests, seventy-seven religious brothers, and nine hundred forty-four religious sisters. One half of all Catholics in the Commonwealth of Kentucky reside within the archdiocese, and  seventy-nine percent of all Catholics in the archdiocese (forty percent of all Catholics in the Commonwealth) reside in the Louisville metropolitan area. There are fifty-nine Catholic elementary and high schools serving more than 23,400 students. The archdiocese serves more than 220,000 persons in Catholic hospitals, health care centers, homes for the aged, and specialized homes. Services, mother-infant care program, senior social services, and rural ministries services. The cathedral church of the archdiocese is the Cathedral of the Assumption. It is the seat of the metropolitan see of the Province of Louisville, which encompasses the states of Kentucky  and Tennessee. The Archdiocese of Louisville is the oldest "inland" diocese in the United States, but not the oldest diocese west of the Appalachians. That distinction belongs to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans, erected in territory under Spanish rule in 1793 that became part of the United States through the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. History. Background. On 8 April 1808, Pope Pius VII concurrently erected the Diocese of Bardstown, the Diocese of Boston, the Diocese of New York, and the Diocese of Philadelphia in territory taken from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore, and simultaneously elevated the Diocese  of Baltimore to a metropolitan archdiocese with the four new dioceses as its suffragans. At that time, Bardstown, Kentucky was a thriving frontier settlement. (Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the U.S. in April 2008 celebrated the bicentenary of this event). The initial territory of the Diocese of Bardstown included most of the new states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan — the western territories of America to the Mississippi River and the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. The same pope appointed Benedict Joseph Flaget as the first Bishop of Bardstown. Under Bishop Flaget's leadership, the new diocese  began construction of St. Joseph Cathedral in 1816, and celebrated the first mass in the structure in 1819 even though construction continued until 1823. That building continued to serve as a parish church after the transfer to of the see to Louisville (see below). On 18 July 2001, Pope John Paul II designated it as a minor basilica. On 19 June 1821, Pope Pius VII erected the Diocese of Cincinnati, taking its territory from the Diocese of Bardstown. Its initial territory encompassed the entire present states of Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, and portions of North Dakota and South Dakota  that are east of the Mississippi River. On 6 May 1834, Pope Gregory XVI erected the Diocese of Vincennes, taking its territory from the Diocese of Bardstown. The territory of the new diocese encompassed the present state of Indiana and the eastern portion of Illinois. On 28 July 1837, the same pope erected the Diocese of Nashville, taking its territory from the Diocese of Bardstown. The territory of the new diocese encompassed the present state of Tennessee. This action reduced territory of the Diocese of Bardstown to that of the present state of Kentucky. Transfer to Louisville. On 13 February  1841, the same pope transferred the see from Bardstown to Louisville, changing the title of the diocese to Diocese of Louisville and designating St. Louis Church in Louisville as its new cathedral. However, Bishop Flaget determined that the diocese needed a new cathedral in 1849 and started construction of the Cathedral of the Assumption, but died on 11 February 1850, a few months after laying the cornerstone, leaving it to his successor, Bishop Martin John Spalding, to complete the construction. Bishop Spalding dedicated the new cathedral on 3 October 1852. The new cathedral was built around St. Louis Cathedral, which  was then disassembled and carried piece by piece out the doors of the larger structure. On 29 July 1853, Pope Pius IX erected the Diocese of Covington, taking its initial territory, the eastern portion of Kentucky, from the Diocese of Louisville. The French may have had initial influence in the formation of the Roman Catholic community in the Louisville area, but immigrants from Germany eventually comprised the bulk of the Archdiocese's communicant strength later in the mid-19th century, particularly in the city of Louisville. However, much of the Catholic population in areas southeast of Louisville is of English extraction , consisting of descendants of recusants who originally settled in Maryland in colonial times. On 9 December 1937, Pope Pius XI erected the Diocese of Owensboro, taking its territory, the western portion of Kentucky, from the Diocese of Louisville and simultaneously elevating the Diocese of Louisville to a metropolitan archdiocese. and assigning the Diocese of Covington, the new Diocese of Owensboro, and the Diocese of Nashville. On 20 June 1970, Pope Paul VI erected the Diocese of Memphis, taking its territory, the western portion of the state of Tennessee, from the Diocese of Nashville and making it another suffragan of the  Archdiocese of Louisville. On 14 January 1988, Pope John Paul II erected the Diocese of Lexington, taking its territory from the Archdiocese of Louisville and the Diocese of Covington and making it another suffragan of the Archdiocese of Louisville. This action established the present territory of the Archdiocese of Louisville. On 27 May 1988, the same pope erected the Diocese of Knoxville, taking its territory, the eastern portion of the state of Tennessee, from the Diocese of Nashville and making it an additional suffragan of the Archdiocese of Louisville. This action established the present configuration of the Metropolitan Province of  Louisville. Sexual abuse. In 2003, the Archdiocese of Louisville paid $25.7 million directly from its own assets to settle claims of sexual abuse by its clergy. Reports of abuse extended back to the 1940s, were alleged to have continued to 1997, and involved 34 priests, two religious brothers, and three lay people. In 2009, the Diocese of Covington paid 243 victims an average of $254,000 after they were victimized by 35 priests. The total settlement, $79 million, was the sixth largest in the US (as of 2017). In 2019, Father Joseph Hemmerle, who was convicted in 2016  for molesting a ten-year-old boy while serving at the Camp Tall Trees summer camp in 1973, lost a bid for appeal. Hemmerle, who was also denied parole in 2017, is serving a seven-year prison sentence for this crime, which was recommended following his conviction. In 2017, he received an additional two years after pleading guilty to molesting another boy at Camp Tall Trees in 1977 and 1978. Bishops. The lists of bishops and their years of service: Education. High schools. Ten Catholic secondary schools serve more than 6,300 students. Eight of the schools are located in Jefferson  County and one in Nelson County. Four of the schools enroll only girls, three enroll only boys, and two are coeducational. Elementary schools. Forty Catholic parish, regional, and special elementary schools serve more than 15,500 students in seven counties of the Archdiocese of Louisville. Metropolitan Province of Louisville. The Metropolitan Province of Louisville covers the states of Kentucky and Tennessee, and comprises the following dioceses: