Archdiocese of Louisville Archives

05/06/2026

Happy 192nd Birthday 🎂💐🎈🎉 to our second born "daughter" diocese, established on this day in 1834 in the see city of Vincennes, now the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.

04/13/2026

53 bears! Can you just imagine? A very interesting post from Sam Terry's Kentucky regarding the first written description in 1750 of Kentucky by the first non-native American, Dr. Thomas Walker. To put this in our local Catholic perspective, it would be another 25 years before the first Catholics (in 1775) would enter the commonwealth - that of the William Coomes family that included Jane Coomes (the first teacher in the commonwealth) and Dr. George Hart (likely the first physician). From 1750, it would be another 35 years before the migration of the Maryland catholics to Kentucky, 11 years for Fr. Charles Nerinckx to be born in Belgium, 13 years for Bishop Flaget to be born in France, 18 years for Fr. Stephen Badin to be born in France, and 43 years for Mother Catherine Spalding to be born in Maryland.

04/08/2026

Happy 218th Birthday to us! 🎂🎂🎂 And to the Archdiocese of Boston, Archdiocese of New York, and the Catholic Church of Philadelphia who were also established on this very same day in 1808 by the Holy Father, Pope Pius VII. It's an odd number to celebrate and it appears that 100 years ago the same sentiment was felt since there was no mention in The Record - Archdiocese of Louisville newspaper on April 8, 1926. Regardless, Happy Birthday, Archdiocese of Louisville! 💐💐💐

12/21/2025

How lucky we are to have the Trappist community of the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani in our local Church. 177 years in Kentucky and going strong! Don't forget to order your fruitcake and fudge to support their ministries.

December 21, 1848 - Having left France on October 26th, 43 Trappist monks from the Abbey of Melleray in France arrived in Nelson County, Kentucky to found what is now the oldest continuously operating monastery in the Un...

12/17/2025

Can you just imagine what our early Church leaders and faithful thought of the New Madrid Earthquakes?

December 16, 1811 - About 2:15 a.m., the initial New Madrid earthquake occurred followed by a series of quakes and aftershocks that continued through February 7, 1812.

Combined with the appearance of Halley’s Comet earlier in 1811 and the horrific Battle of Tippecanoe, the event was enough to cause many Kentuckians to believe the world was about to be devoured in a flame of fire and Judgement Day was soon to come.

Franklin Gorin, who was born just as Barren County was organized, was about 12 years old when the earthquakes occurred and in later life he recorded his recollections of the event, explaining, “The first shock of the earthquake was terrible. It occurred in the night. The houses rocked, the furniture and chairs it seemed were tossed around the house, and men, women and children were almost frightened out of their senses.”

“The second was felt at breakfast time and was similar to the first. All was confusion and dismay. Few, if any, of our citizens had ever felt an earthquake before, and though the oldest people understood what it was, their consternation was so great they knew not what was to come next,” Gorin recalled. He added that there were many aftershocks and “as repetition familiarizes us to most things,” the disturbances were not as alarming.

While the December 16 earthquake had a magnitude of 7.2, some seismologists believe the quake could have actually registered 8.1 on the Richter Scale. On January 23, 1812, a second significant quake with a magnitude of 7.8 occurred. The most powerful of the series came on February 7, registering a magnitude of 8.8.
Some have claimed the latter event caused church bells to ring in Boston while brick walls were toppled in Cincinnati. Thousands of miles from the epicenter in New Madrid, Missouri, residents of New York City and Montreal felt the earthquake. In Washington, D.C., President James Madison and First Lady Dolley Madison reported feeling the tremors in the Executive Mansion.

Back in Kentucky, George Heinrich Crist who lived near Bardstown wrote on February 8, "If we do not get away from here the ground is going to eat us alive. We had another one of them earth quakes yesterdy and today the ground still shakes at times. We are all about to go crazy - from pain and fright. We can not do anything until we can find our animals or get some more. We have not found enough to pull the wagons."

Perhaps the most dramatic result of the last quake was the Mississippi River turning brown and running backwards as giant whirlpools developed from depressions in the riverbed with waterfalls being created instantaneously. Wiping out an Indian village and consuming virgin forests, 15,000 acres of land was filled with water to form Reelfoot Lake in Tennessee. Big Lake on the Arkansas-Missouri border was also formed as a result of the event.

12/10/2025

December 10, 1937 – 88 years ago. Pope Pius XI raised the Diocese of Louisville to the dignity and status of a Metropolitan Archdiocese and assigned under its jurisdiction the Diocese of Covington, the new Diocese of Owensboro (created the day before), and the Diocese of Nashville. Heading the Archdiocese of Louisville would be the newly created Archbishop John A. Floersh, bishop since 1923. The new ecclesiastical province includes the entire states of Kentucky and Tennessee.

The announcement was made in Washington D.C. by Archbishop Amleto Cicognani, Apostolic Delegate (Cicognani was later made a Cardinal in 1958).

Archbishop Floersh received the Pallium – the symbol of his office, made from lamb’s wool – from the Pope at a private consistory in Rome. The bestowal was by proxy.

Today, the Metropolitan See of Louisville is lead by Archbishop Shelton Fabre and includes the dioceses of Owensboro, Covington, Lexington, Nashville, Knoxville and Memphis.

12/09/2025

Felix dies natalis to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Owensboro Kentucky that was created on this day 88 years ago in 1937! 🎂🙏🎂🙏🎂

On Thursday December 9, 1937 Pope Pius XI issued a Papal Bull creating the new Diocese of Owensboro. The region would be taken from the Diocese of Louisville which was raised to be the Metropolitan See. The new Diocese of Owensboro would cover 32 counties of western Kentucky. A week later it was announced that Reverend Francis R. Cotton was to be appointed the first bishop of the diocese.

09/27/2025

A shout out to Archbishop Emeritus Joseph E. Kurtz who is included in photo #7 of this USCCB post.

08/30/2025

What were you doing 20 years ago during Hurricane Katrina?

Louisville Archbishop Shelton Fabre was working in Baton Rouge when Katrina happened, and was then appointed Auxiliary Bishop of New Orleans a year and a half later.

08/06/2025

This post has been updated. Please see the reason in the comments section.
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August 6, 1855. Today is the 170th anniversary of Bloody Monday - one of Louisville's darkest days. Over the years much has been written, copied, shared, published and posted about this awful, yet historic day. Bloody Monday is one of Louisville's most talked about historic events. I invite you to research this important day on your own. A simple Google search is the easiest way to begin. Louisville was forever changed on August 6, 1855. It is estimated that 10,000 Irish and German immigrants left our city in the aftermath for more welcoming pastures. These and other scars still remain. History has a way of repeating itself, so lessons can still be learned. In the meantime, let us remember the innocent lives lost 170 years ago. May they all rest in peace. 🙏