Members of the faithful from surrounding dioceses are making pilgrimages to the Basilica of St. Joseph Proto-Cathedral in Bardstown, Ky., one of six pilgrimage sites for the Jubilee Year of Hope in the Archdiocese of Louisville.
Parishioners from the Diocese of Covington and the Diocese of Owensboro traveled to the proto-cathedral over the summer — drawn by the Catholic history in that city and the surrounding area known as the Kentucky Holy Land.
The Diocese of Bardstown, established in 1808, encompassed a vast territory at the outset, including the Dioceses of Owensboro and Covington. It stretched from the Allegheny Mountains in the East to the Mississippi River in the west, and up to the Canadian border in the north and into the deep south.
The Basilica of St. Joseph, whose cornerstone was laid in 1816, was the diocese’s first cathedral. (The Diocese of Bardstown was transferred to Louisville in 1841 and eventually became an archdiocese.)
Mary Ann Kelly, pastoral assistant at Mother of God Church in Covington, was among 50 pilgrims who traveled to Bardstown and the surrounding areas with their pastor, Father Michael Comer, in July.
“We hear so much about our Catholic roots in Kentucky. How they (the first Catholics) came and the life they experienced in these unsettled territories and what life was like for Stephen Badin, (the first priest ordained in the U.S.), how he traveled and how they kept the church alive, praying devotions,” Kelly said, adding, the group expressed a “great admiration for the people who brought the faith to Kentucky.”
“Anytime you make a pilgrimage, it changes you. You’re professing that through this action, God will hear our prayers, and it will change me and deepen that relationship.”
— Mary Ann Kelly, Mother of God Church in Covington
In addition to the proto-cathedral, Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre designated five other pilgrimage sites — the Cathedral of the Assumption and the Shrine of St. Martin of Tours in Louisville, the Church of St. Augustine in Lebanon, Ky., the Church of St. Helen in Glasgow, Ky., and the Church of the Holy Cross in Loretto, Ky., according to the archdiocese.
Each site offers an opportunity for the faithful to receive a plenary indulgence.
Kelly said that part of what she took away from the experience was the universality of the church.
“We’re all one church,” said Kelly. “You see the church at work in another diocese and realize it’s universal. … You can extrapolate that to other parishes around the world and realize we’re one and the same.”
The pilgrims from Covington toured the proto-cathedral and other historical sites. They also visited the nearby Abbey of Gethsemani, where they were led on a tour, Kelly said.
Kelly said the pilgrimage was prayerful. Pilgrims had gathered prayer requests beforehand, and they prayed the rosary as they traveled.
“We were truly on a prayerful pilgrimage,” she said, noting that parishioners, who appreciated the opportunity for a local pilgrimage, returned to Covington feeling refreshed and renewed.
“Whenever you can step away and make your spirituality the focus, you will feel renewed,” she said. “Anytime you make a pilgrimage, it changes you. You’re professing that through this action, God will hear our prayers, and it will change me and deepen that relationship.”
Members of St. Mary Church and Christ the King Church in Franklin, Ky., — parishes that are clustered in the Diocese of Owensboro — traveled to Bardstown in June to visit the proto-cathedral.
Margaret Wolter, one of the 56 pilgrims, said, “It was a wonderful day. Everybody had a great time.”
Father Tom Buckman, pastor of St. Mary and Christ the King, led the pilgrims in praying the rosary, the litany of St. Joseph and Pope Leo XIV’s intentions as they traveled to Bardstown, Wolter said. On the return trip, they prayed the Divine Mercy Chaplet, she said.
Wolter and the other pilgrims received a guided tour of the proto-cathedral. She said they saw some of its prominent features, among them, the poplar tree column, the altar rails, altar stone and the umbraculum — one of the items that signify the proto-cathedral’s status as a minor basilica.
The group also spent time in adoration at the proto-cathedral.
“I hope we can do this annually and not have to wait for another jubilee year,” she said.
On May 9, 2024, the late Pope Francis declared a Jubilee Year of Hope with a papal bull titled “Spes Non Confudit,” meaning “Hope Does Not Disappoint.” The Record is producing a series of stories about each of the archdiocese’s pilgrimage sites. Read them at therecordnewspaper.org/tag/jubilee-2025-pilgrimage-sites/.
