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NEW BULLETIN FEATURE FOR 2008 – “BICENTENNIAL MOMENT”~ During 2008, we are celebrating 200 years as the Archdiocese of Louisville. We share 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 were also 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. The see city moved to Louisville in 1841, and the Diocese of Louisville was elevated to an Archdiocese in 1937.
July 6 bulletin:
BISHOP SPALDING’S FAREWELL ~ Bishop Martin John Spalding, second bishop of the Diocese of Louisville, was named to the premier American See of Baltimore in 1864. On July 10, 1864 he was sent away with an emotional farewell at the Cathedral. In his address, he noted that the Church “has work for all and stimulates all to labor for the love of God and the good of neighbor.” He told the priests to love their country, noting that the “Catholic faith and the Catholic heart embrace all…without any exceptions whatsoever.”
Serving God’s People – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.
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June 29 bulletin:
FR. CHARLES NERINCKX ARRIVES IN KENTUCKY, LEAVES A LASTING LEGACY ~ Charles Nerinckx, 40 year-old Belgian priest, arrived at the St. Stephen’s headquarters of Kentucky on July 2, 1805. He served 20 years in Kentucky, built nearly ten churches in ten years, and helped found the first religious community of the West, the Sisters of Loretto.
Serving God’s People – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.
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June 22 bulletin:
CATHOLIC ADVOCATE NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED~ June 26, 1869, was the first issue of the Catholic newspaper called the Catholic Advocate. It was at first considered the official newspaper of the diocese, but by the mid 1870s began calling itself an independent Catholic weekly. Ben Webb was its first editor. The Advocate was known for its highly literate and opinionated editorials and its critique of the modern world.
Serving God’s People – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.
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June 15 bulletin:
PARISH COUNCILS ESTABLISHED ~ On June 15, 1972, The Record reported that 64 out of 80 parishes in Jefferson County had parish councils in place. This followed the first publication of official guidelines for parish councils in June of 1971. Some parishes established working councils as early as the 1960s. These guidelines were, in the words of Archbishop Thomas J. McDonough, the first step in translating the general directives of Vatican II into a reality for the Archdiocese as a whole.” Today, most parishes have councils that exist as consultative bodies for the pastor and that facilitate cooperation among the pastor, staff, and parishioners in creating and realizing the mission of the parish.
Serving God’s People – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.
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June 8 bulletin:
BISHOP FLAGET ARRIVES IN KENTUCKY ~ Bishop Flaget arrived in Kentucky on June 9, 1811, nearly seven months after he was consecrated a bishop in Baltimore for the Diocese of Bardstown. According to historian Fr. Clyde F. Crews, Flaget immediately “plunged into work” after moving into a lodge at St. Stephen’s settlement. By this time, there were approximately 16,000 Catholics and six priests in the young diocese.
Serving God’s People – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.
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June 1 bulletin:
KENTUCKY’S STATEHOOD ~ Kentucky is admitted to the United States as the first western state on June 1, 1792. At that time the population of the state was about 70,000 with approximately 300 Catholics and one priest.
Serving God’s People – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.
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May 25 bulletin:
FATHER STEPHEN BADIN ~ Stephen Badin was the first priest ordained in the United States on May 25, 1793, in Baltimore. He arrived in Kentucky that same year. Badin become known as the Apostle of Kentucky, since from 1793 until the arrival of Bishop Flaget in 1811, the spiritual and temporal affairs of the Catholic Church in Kentucky were guided by him.
Serving God’s People – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.
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May 18 bulletin:
BISHOP FLAGET’S “FLATBOAT SEMINARY” ~ On May 22, 1811, the flatboat that would bring the first bishop of the Diocese of Bardstown (Benedict Joseph Flaget) and the diocese’s first seminary (St. Thomas) left Pittsburgh to travel down the Ohio River to Kentucky. This flatboat seminary had teaching, religious exercises, and regimen of life already in place with three students in attendance, including Guy Ignatius Chabrat, who later served as auxiliary bishop to Flaget.
Serving God’s People – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.
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May 11 bulletin:
BISHOP PETER JOSEPH LAVIALLE ~ Bishop Peter Joseph Lavialle Died on May 11, 1867, after serving as third bishop of the diocese for only two years. Lavialle had served the Louisville diocese as a priest since 1844. He was pastor of St. Louis Church and then president of St. Mary’s College. During the Civil War he worked in the battlefields dressing wounds and praying with soldiers. The Holy Father twice asked him to be Bishop of Savannah, and twice he refused. He was consecrated as the Bishop of Louisville on September 24, 1865.
Serving God’s People – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.
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May 4 bulletin:
RACIAL INTEGRATION IN CATHOLIC HOSPITALS ~ The May 1, 1948 issue of The Record called upon diocesan Catholic hospitals to take the lead in integration by admitting black citizens. Sts. Mary and Elizabeth and St. Joseph Hospital began taking black patients that same year. During this era, The Record frequently raised questions of conscience, especially about race, in its editorial columns.
Serving God’s People – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.
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April 27 bulletin:
CHAPLAIN TRAINING ~ In late April 1918, a national training center for Catholic chaplains was established at Camp Taylor in Louisville. The chaplain training corps began with 22 members from across the United States. At this time, Camp Taylor also became known for the close cooperation and friendly relations among Catholic chaplains and their colleagues who served recruits from other faith traditions.
Serving God’s People – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.
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April 20 bulletin:
ORIGINS OF THE SISTERS OF LORETTO ~ The first religious community in the West began on April 25, 1812 when three young women, Mary Rhodes, Christina Stuart, and Ann Havern, who conducted a school from the St. Charles congregation on Hardin’s Creek, received a rule of religious life from Fr. Charles Nerinckx. By the end of the century, the ministry of Sisters of Loretto at the Foot of the Cross spread within Kentucky and to the American states of Missouri, Kansas, New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, California, and Arizona.
Serving God’s People – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.
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April 13 bulletin:
MSGR. MICHAEL BOUCHET ~ On April 12, Easter Sunday of 1903, Msgr. Michael Bouchet died. Monsignor Bouchet was one of the best-known priests of the diocese at the end of the nineteenth century, serving as vicar-general, rector of the Cathedral, and founder of The Record newspaper. Bouchet was a linguist, and inventor who built an experimental typewriter and wrote a fantasy story about a trip to the moon. Friendly and approachable, Bouchet was an especially popular confessor. On the eve of his death, he heard confessions at the Cathedral for more than eight hours.
Serving God’s People – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.
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April 6 bulletin:
FOUNDING OF OUR DIOCESE ~ The Diocese of Bardstown was founded by Pope Pius VII on April 8, 1808, along with the dioceses of Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. Only the see cities of Baltimore and New Orleans were older in rank. The Diocese of Bardstown, which moved to Louisville in 1841 and was elevated to an Archdiocese in 1937, was the first inland diocese in the nation.
Serving God’s People – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.
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March 30 bulletin:
BISHOP DENIS O’DONAGHUE ~ On March 29, 1910, Bishop Denis O’Donaghue was installed as the fifth bishop of the Diocese of Louisville. He had been an auxiliary bishop in Indianapolis with more than a decade of experience when he was installed. Known as a kindly man, Bishop O’Donaghue served the diocese until his resignation in 1924.
Serving God’s People – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.
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March 23 bulletin:
TORNADO OF 1890 ~ One of the more dramatic occurrences in a parish community in the history of the diocese took place at Louisville’s Sacred Heart Church on the night of March 27, 1890. A tornado attacked the city leaving 75 persons dead and swept away the parish church. Only the statue of the Blessed Mother was left standing.
Serving God’s People – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.
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March 16 bulletin:
THOMAS MERTON ~ On March 18, 1958, Trappist Priest Thomas Merton was visiting Louisville from his home in Gethsemani. As he stood at the central downtown intersection of Fourth and Walnut Streets, he had an intense experience with crowds he saw there. Later he would write in Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander: “In Louisville, at the corner of Fourth and Walnut, in the center of the shopping district, I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that I loved these people, that they were mine, and I was theirs, that we could not be alien to one another…I have the immense joy of being a person, a member of the race in which God himself became incarnate…If only everyone could realize this. But it cannot be explained. There is no way of telling people that they are walking around, shining like the sun.”
Serving God’s People – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.
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March 9 bulletin:
BICENTENNIAL YEAR BEGINNINGS ~ In March 2007, the Archdiocese of Louisville kicked off its bicentennial celebration with a conference for parish and lay leaders. Entitled “Leadership and Ministry in a changing Church,” the conference featured a keynote presentation by Fr. J. Glenn Murray, S.J. Nearly 400 parish staff, parish council, finance council, school board, and other parish committee members attended.
Serving God’s People – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.
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March 2 bulletin:
LENT & WORLD WAR II ~ The Record reported that Lenten fasting was dispensed that year as the United States geared up for its participation in World War II. School children collected large amounts of scrap metal, and black-out plans were announced at local parishes.
Serving God’s People – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.
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February 23 bulletin:
DOMINICAN SISTERS OF ST. CATHARINE ~ In response to a sermon preached by Dominican Father Samuel Wilson at St. Rose Church near Springfield, nine women came forward on February 28, 1822, seeking to live the life of Dominican religious. The first American foundation of Dominican Sisters was the third of the sisterhoods established on the frontier. Angela Sansbury was chosen first superior. By 1823, the sisters were operating a school known as St. Mary Magdalen Academy, later known as St. Catharine after 1851.
Serving God’s People – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.
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February 17 bulletin:
THE RECORD NEWSPAPER ~ February 15, 1879 was the first publication of The Record, the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Louisville. Msgr. Michael Bouchet, vicar general to Bishop William McCloskey and rector of the Cathedral, founded The Record as a source of support for orphans. In 1879, The Record was one of three Catholic weeklies, including the Advocate (1869-1899) and the Glaubensbote 1869-1914. Still published today, The Record has won many awards and is delivered to more than 66,000 homes weekly.
Serving God’s People – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.
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February 10 bulletin:
FROM BARDSTOWN TO LOUISVILLE ~ The see city of the Diocese of Bardstown was transferred from Bardstown to the rapidly growing port city of Louisville on February 13, 1841. At that time there were three active Catholic parishes in Louisville: St. Louis on 5th Street, where Bishop Flaget lived, Our Lady’s, the French parish in what is now called Portland, and St. Boniface, the German parish. The Catholic population was 4,000 out of a total of about 21,000 in Louisville.
Serving God’s People – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.
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February 3 bulletin:
BISHOP CHARLES G. MALONEY ~ On February 2, 1955, Bishop Charles Garrett Maloney was ordained as auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Louisville. Bishop Maloney would serve the diocese for 50 years. Known for his business and administrative talent, Bishop Maloney was civically involved in issues of race relations and other social issues. He also was a supporter of religious liberty and modern scripture scholarship at the Second Vatican Council. Bishop Maloney died in April 2006.
Serving God’s People – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.
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January 27 bulletin:
1937 FLOOD ~ It was raining throughout the month of January 1937. By the last week of the month, the city of Louisville faced the worst flood of its history. More than 200,000 people were driven from their homes, and 200 died. Catholic facilities served the community masterfully during this tragedy. Examples include: St. Joseph Infirmary, which was without electricity for two weeks, took in 100 refugees; St. Anthony Hospital took in 120 refugees, and SS. Mary and Elizabeth Hospital took in 600. Holy Name Parish housed 300 people; St. Francis of Assisi took in 325, while also feeding 2,500 people and dispensing 10,000 typhoid shots, and St. James served as an evacuation hospital.
Serving God’s People – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.
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January 20 bulletin:
BLUE MONDAY ~ On January 22, 1973 when the Supreme Court issued the Roe vs. Wade decision legalizing abortion, Archbishop Thomas J. McDonough issued a statement calling the day “Blue Monday,” and saying that it was “overtly a violation of individual rights. It comes at a time too when efforts have been made to close down the war in Vietnam and to save the lives of all the people who have been endangered by that war. Now we hear the highest court in the land has declared an assault upon the life of the unborn child.”
Serving God’s People – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.
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January 13 bulletin:
NAZARETH MOTHERHOUSE AND THE CIVIL WAR ~ On January 17, 1865, Abraham Lincoln agreed to Bishop Martin John Spalding’s request to protect the Nazareth Motherhouse from the ravages of the Civil War, which already had closed St. Joseph College in Bardstown. Abraham Lincoln wrote a personal note ordering “let no depredation” occur on the property of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth. Today, this note is a treasure in the archives of the Nazareth Motherhouse.
Serving God’s People – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.
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Fr. Clyde Crews’ book An American Holy Land is the source of this information. The bicentennial theme is: Serving God’s People Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow. For more information on the bicentennial, go to www.archlou.org .
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You can own your own piece of the history of our archdiocese! Celebrate our archdiocesan bicentennial with a new book featuring the history of parishes in the Archdiocese. Faith and Mission: Parish Histories in Celebration of the 200th Anniversary of the Archdiocese of Louisville. This 208-page full color book contains photos and histories of each parish, and includes a special page featuring our St. Patrick parish. The book is on sale now in the Gathering Space after all weekend Masses or from the Parish Office. The cost is just $25. Be sure to get yours today!
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