Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville - History

History

The diocese began in 1808 when the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bardstown was established along with the dioceses of Boston, New York, and Philadelphia out of the territory of the Baltimore Diocese, the first Catholic diocese in the US. Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the US in April 2008 celebrated the 200th anniversary of the creation of these dioceses and the elevation of Baltimore to an archdiocese. When founded, the Bardstown Diocese included most of Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan.

While Louisville is the oldest inland diocese in the United States, it is not the oldest west of the Appalachians. That distinction belongs to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans founded under Spanish rule in 1793.

Benedict Joseph Flaget was the first Bishop of Bardstown. The historic Basilica of Saint Joseph Proto-Cathedral, the former cathedral of the Diocese of Bardstown, is now a parish church.

While the French may have had initial influence in the formation of the Catholic community in the Louisville area, eventually immigrants from Germany 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.

In 1841, the diocese was moved from Bardstown to Louisville, becoming the Diocese of Louisville. The Diocese of Louisville was elevated in 1937 to become the Archdiocese of Louisville, and the metropolitan province for all the dioceses in Kentucky and Tennessee. There are currently three deaneries: Elizabethtown, Lebanon, and Bardstown.