Archive for category: Featured Stories

Maura Baker

Staff Writer

Faithful from across the Diocese of Covington came to fill the pews of the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, Covington, on March 31 in celebration of the annual Chrism Mass. The great diocesan assembly par excellence, priests and deacons joined Bishop John Iffert, celebrant and homilist, as he blessed the holy oils and consecrated sacred Chrism for use diocesan wide. Representatives from every parish and ministering Catholic organization attend the Chrism Mass to receive the three blessed oils for their institutions. These oils include the Oil of the Sick, Oil of the Catechumens, and the sacred Chrism. Each of these oils, blessed by the bishop, will be used in administering the sacraments in the coming year.

A sign of unity and service, the Chrism Mass sees clergy, religious and laity together, while priests renew their promises made during ordination. Bishop Iffert began his homily commenting on this great unity, saying, “It does my heart so much good to be here celebrating with so many of our holy priests, our faithful deacons, our consecrated religious and baptized representatives of the whole Church — and that is the point! The Church gathers to recommit ourselves to the mission of Jesus the anointed one … He is anointed with the Holy Spirit, and by his grace, has invited each of us into this holy and anointed life.”

Referencing the Mass’s reading from the book of Isaiah, Bishop Iffert commented that it’s not the voice of Isaiah that we hear, but “an oracle placed into the mouth of an anticipated messenger of the end times by Isaiah.”

“This expected messenger will be anointed like the king, anointed like the prophets — but this messenger will be more than a king, more than a prophet,” Bishop Iffert said. “He is a proclaimer, and he is a comforter … He announces redemption for slaves, release for prisoners. He proclaims a new order of things were there will be no more need for repression, and where peace and well-being will prevail. He proclaims a year of the Lord’s favor.”

Bishop Iffert said that “we can think of this year as a jubilee year — but this is a special jubilee, the ultimate jubilee. The year of the Lord’s favor means the point in time at which God shows himself to be most gracious and bestows the gift of salvation in the final and definitive way.”

Looking back to Gospel readings leading up to Holy Week, Bishop Iffert referenced a passage in the synagogue of Nazareth during the life of Christ.

“When he stands to read this passage,” referring to the previous reading from the Book of Isaiah, “he points out that today, this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing … and he reveals to all who hear him that he is the great prophet of whom Isaiah speaks.”

Referencing the third century Christian scholar Origen, Bishop Iffert said that Christ “teaches through his instruments.”

“What are his instruments? What are his methods?” Bishop Iffert asked the congregation, answering, “You. You are God’s instruments, you who have been anointed with oil and with the Holy Spirit … You are baptized to be his instru – ments to continue the saving comfort and proclamation of Jesus Christ.”

Bishop Iffert then drew attention to the priests who had gathered for the Chrism Mass, saying, “In a few moments, I will invite these men who are called to the ordained priesthood for service to the people of God, to draw them toward holi – ness and sanctification — and I will invite them to renew the promises they made at their ordination … I will commit them into your hands,” he said to the congre – gation, “asking you to help them to be sustained by carrying them, and me, constantly in prayer through Jesus Christ, by his Holy Spirit, to the mercies of God, the Father. Because that’s the way God has designed this Church of ours. He has given us to one another for our mutual care.”

Concluding, Bishop Iffert asked those gathered to “Please pray that we (clergy) will never fail you in the search for holiness and please never, never fail to pray for us that we might be true servants of Jesus — servants of those who are instruments of God’s sanctifying love for the world … Pray that we might serve you, fully and completely in a self-emptying way after the pattern of Jesus Christ the Lord, pray for us.”

Bella Bailey

Multimedia Correspondent

In an increasingly online world and with the proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI), it is not merely enough to know the technology, but to know how to use it safely, said Mandy Sanchez, director of programming, Culture Reframed. Dr. Sanchez spoke to Curia staff, Catholic schools’ staff, parish staff, law enforcement, social workers and parents, March 25, about the dangers of AI and social media, and how to keep kids safe from unsavory and dangerous content.

Dr. Sanchez works for renowned international organization Culture Reframed, which strives to change the culture of a “pornified” world, said Dr. Sanchez. With resources for parents and educators on how to protect young children and teens, Dr. Sanchez said, “we talk about the dangers and harms of excessive use of social media and the harms of pornography to young people.”

In her presentation, Dr. Sanchez highlighted that one in three children, approximately 25 million children in the United States, have “seen hardcore porn by age 12,” she said. “Those numbers are getting younger and younger and younger … much of this content is misleading, objectifying and degrading.”

The dangers of errant, unsupervised and unrestricted social media and technology use are on the rise, with 95 to 98 percent of 13–17-year-olds being on social media platforms, and 53 percent of children owning a smartphone by age 11, she said.

“Social media can be good for teens as a way to help expand their identity, to socialize … however, we have had numerous reports where we’re looking at depression, anxiety, sleep, stress, isolation,” said Dr. Sanchez.

“At Culture Reframed, we like to look at social media, not in terms of good and bad, but in terms of safety. What is safe and unsafe, healthy and unhealthy,” she said.

Many children, said Dr. Sanchez, do not seek out or go looking for pornographic content; rather, the content finds them on their social media accounts and games because “porn is everywhere,” she said. “What happens when we live in a pornified space is that if you can make porn of it, people will.”

The effects of pornography on developing brains are evident: “The overstimulation rewires the brain. It disrupts all of the processes that are happening in the frontal lobe. We know that the frontal lobe is responsible for things like decision making, empathy, emotional regulation.”

“Other risks include some mental health risks. Because of that frontal lobe rewiring, we see an undermining of self-awareness and regulation of impulse control, of course, poor body image. This is all research-based, lower self-esteem, depression and anxiety; we see higher engagement in risky and casual sex,” she said.

While social media is a breeding ground for explicit content, the rise of artificial intelligence is giving life to new vices and x-rated content. Today, children and teens have the ability to create “deep fakes,” which are “images and videos that are fake but appear to be real,” said Dr. Sanchez. Where, children and teens are able to create videos of anyone doing anything, including sexually explicit material.

Additionally, character AI allows children and teens to create their own AI characters, with personas and characteristics, that can then interact with other AI characters from other users. “These characters are programmed with natural language algorithms. They can generate human-like text responses. These platforms are not safe for kids, they do not have parental controls,” said Dr. Sanchez.

Research shows that children and teens are turning to character AI and other “chat bots” for friendship, in lieu of personal connection with peers.

“When kids are being bullied at school, we’re finding that their friendships are being severed online. So, we’re finding they’re pulling from their social media and in real life groups and moving into the world of AI chat bots for support,” she said.

“Kids see AI bots as human and that is because kids trust anything that resembles anything that has human features. So, it’s really important to get this digital literacy to children early, to let them know that AI isn’t human,” she said.

This, said Dr. Sanchez, is the key to keeping kids safe. Being present, watching out for warning signs, having age-appropriate conversations about online safety, “being able to point those things out, talking about AI, how they use it, encourage that critical thinking and reflection in your spaces, having them write about things. We invite everyone to the table because it is everyone’s responsibility,” she said.

“We want to reframe the conversation. If our kiddos are spending a good portion of their day online, then a lot of conversations are happening and there’s a lot being advertised to them. So, if we don’t have these conversations with kids, then I can tell you who will. We don’t want them to have those conversations with a multibillion-dollar industry; that is getting really dangerous, really unhealthy messages,” she said. “Everyone has to come to the table because this is an issue we all need help with.”

Your input is important! Help shape the future of the Diocese of Covington by joining one of four pastoral planning and development Commissions.

The Diocese of Covington is launching an expansive, consultation‑driven process to develop a Diocesan foundation and set a pastoral course for “the next decade or more.” Bishop John Iffert is inviting parishioners from around the Diocese to be involved in the discernment and recommendation process.

The commitment involves four monthly sessions from April through July, lasting 90 minutes to two hours each.

Participants will attend an initial kick-off General Session, April 14, 15 or 16, 6:30–8:30 p.m., followed by three focused subcommittee meetings to benchmark best practices and draft actionable strategic goals. Meetings are held at the Curia, Bishop Howard Memorial Auditorium, Covington.

Registrations are now being accepted, visit www.covdioplanning.org.

The Catholic Foundation Commission will evaluate the feasibility of establishing a Diocesan foundation designed to inspire greater generosity and ensure sustained support for the Church’s mission. To inform this strategy, the Commission will analyze giving trends within the Diocese of Covington over the last 20 years, reviewing data across parishes, schools, and Diocesan ministries. This process includes benchmarking against peer organizations to adopt best practices in annual funds, major gifts, and planned giving.

Subcommittees of the Catholic Foundation Commission are:

Governance Committee
Foundation Services Committee
Communications and Technology Committee

The Catholic Schools Commission will work closely with the Superintendent of Schools and the Diocesan School Board to create a three-year strategic plan for the Office of Catholic Schools to ensure our diocesan school system is operating as a proactive, mission-driven model that ensures long-term viability, spiritual vitality and academic excellence. In an era of changing demographics and financial pressures, such a plan will serve as a “living roadmap” to align resources with our core values. The commission will use the National Standards and Benchmarks for Effective Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools as the framework for the planning and sub-committee organization.

Subcommittees for the Catholic Schools Commission are:

Governance and Leadership Committee
Operational Vitality Committee
Academic Excellence Committee
Mission and Catholic Identity Committee

The Catholic Charities Commission will study the vital mission and history of Catholic Charities at both the local and national levels. With the Board and staff having celebrated the completion of its current three-year strategic plan and all associated achievements, this commission will develop a new strategic plan to guide Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Covington through 2030.

Subcommittees for the Catholic Charities Commission are:

Governance Committee
Programs and Services Committee
Parish and Community Partnerships Committee
Communications and Fundraising Committee

The Diocesan Governance Commission will meet from September–December 2026.

Specific dates and times will be determined and published in July.

Subcommittees for the Diocesan Governance Commission are:

Governance and Organization Committee
Finance and Financial Services Committee
Technology Committee
Communications Committee

Laura Keener

Editor

The Diocese of Covington has contracted with consulting firm L’Etoile Development Services to help guide its discussions on the formation of a diocesan foundation and its upcoming pastoral planning. Bishop John Iffert says the decision grew from listening and learning — first from other dioceses, and then from local stakeholders.

“We had a working group… exploring the establishment [of a] foundation,” Bishop Iffert explained. “We thought that we would start in just a very conventional way … talking to lawyers … drafting documents and setting up a board.”

But, Bishop Iffert said, advice from other dioceses changed the approach. The best guidance was “to begin from the other direction… start by talking to the people who had a stake in the success of the foundation — our priests, our principals, our school parents, our donors… and then from the grassroots up, design the foundation around the perceived needs.” He added, “You know me, I love to start these processes by listening to people.”

As the diocese looked for help to do that listening and design work, one name kept coming up. “Over and over again, people identified this L’Etoile … Marilyn and Mark are the people that we work with locally, and they have experience in several dioceses, helping dioceses to do that,” Bishop Iffert said.

Marilyn Blanchette is the founder of L’Etoile Development Services. After 30 years in non-profit management — 13 of those years with the Diocese or Orlando, Florida — she established her consulting firm in 2011 to assist dioceses, universities and religious orders to help plan for their future.

Joining Mrs. Blanchette in assisting the Diocese of Covington is Mark Dollhopf. Mr. Dollhopf has nearly 50 years of fundraising, marketing and donor engagement experience working with universities, faith-based institutions, and other non-profits.

Bishop Iffert notes that creating a foundation is a common step for healthy, growing church organizations. “It’s a very common thing anymore,” Bishop Iffert said, noting that many dioceses have foundations, some for 30 years or more.

The Diocese of Rockford, Illinois, was an early adopter, and one which Bishop Iffert is most familiar with, establishing its Catholic Foundation for the People of the Diocese of Rockford in 1987. Other local (arch)dioceses with established foundations include Cincinnati, Lexington and Louisville.

“If you think of a growing, successful, not-for-profit — whether it’s your diocese, schools or university — almost certainly they have a foundation.”

In the near term, the foundation’s “low-hanging fruit” will be helping parishes and schools with work that often gets overlooked. “Parishes are busy places, and … it’s nobody’s job,” Bishop Iffert said about promoting charitable giving. The foundation makes it their job “to help parishes and schools do that work,” especially building endowments and planned giving — needs that can seed long-term support for ministries.

Beyond the establishment of a foundation, wider pastoral planning is centered on consultation. Recently, Bishop Iffert met with every active priest for lunch conversations about the plan and next steps. “Over the last two weeks, we’ve had a lunch almost every day, inviting seven or eight priests in,” he said. Going forward, he plans “one or two meals a month … so that I see each priest at my table once or twice a year,” and to create “another opportunity … for priests to have a special voice” as planning advances.

Why so much listening? Because priests are key partners, and the changes will affect them and their people. “Priests are … my closest collaborators and co‑workers; they’re the only group that has the sacramental nature to form a college with the bishop, … they’ve given their whole lives, so these decisions will have an impact on them,” Bishop Iffert said.

Ultimately, Covington turned to L’Etoile because trusted peers recommended them, their approach starts with listening, and their track record matches the diocese’s goals. As Bishop Iffert put it, partnering with L’Etoile is already “a very productive relationship” — and it’s helping the diocese build a foundation, in every sense of the word, for the future.

Bella Bailey

Multi-media Correspondent

Twenty years ago, Gerald Lundergan, a long-time Maysville resident and then parishioner of St. Patrick Church, Maysville, bought a small plot of land, just off St. Patrick Cemetery, Maysville. With that land, it was his dream to build Stations of the Cross, a spiritual refuge and place of pilgrimage for the faithful. Now, on land just off his original plot, and leased by the Diocese of Covington, Mr. Lundergan’s dream is almost complete. Fifteen life-size, bronze, hand-carved Stations of the Cross will soon be unveiled at The Gardens of St. Patrick’s, Maysville — eight acres of hand-crafted beauty and extraordinary detail, paying homage to Christ’s great sacrifice.

The Gardens at St. Patrick’s and its 14 completed stations, with one remaining to be completed on Ascension Sunday, May 14, will be blessed and dedicated by Archbishop Emeritus of New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Bishop John Iffert. Cardinal Dolan and Bishop Iffert will celebrate Mass together on Holy Wednesday, April 1, to music composed by esteemed musician Francisco Carbonell, who studied at the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music, Rome. The composition will be performed by Dr. Everette McCorvey and his American Spiritual Ensemble. The 19-person vocal ensemble will be accompanied musically by a brass choir consisting of trumpets, horns, trombones and tubas.

The celebration of Holy Mass, April 1, will take place at the outdoor altar and accompanying amphitheater seating, which are nestled into a small hillside, just before the first station.

“The Stations of the Cross, to me, is what it’s all about,” said Mr. Lundergan. “If you live the Stations of the Cross, you understand why you’re here on Earth.”

Upon arrival at the Gardens at St. Patrick’s, visitors will be greeted by a welcome center, ticket booth and a 7.5-story-tall cross. This cross will cast a shadow over the twelfth station, the crucifixion, at the time of Christ’s death, 2 p.m. Inside the welcome center, guests will be greeted by stories about the “crucifixion, stations, the history of the stations,” said Mr. Lundergan.

Before beginning their spiritual journey, visitors will walk through a recreation of the Garden of Gethsemane. Though not officially a location in the Stations of the Cross, the Garden of Gethsemane is an important part of the Passion of Christ. At the garden there is an olive press from Jerusalem, symbolic of the Garden of Gethsemane’s role as a functional olive garden at the time of Judas’ betrayal.

The replicate Garden of Gethsemane will lead visitors to the first of 15 stations, all of which are life-sized and hand-carved by Italian sculptor Reto Demitz, and his team of sculptors. The bronze statues include important figures in the Stations of the Cross including, of course, Jesus, Pontius Pilate and Mary, mother of Christ, but also Veronica, Simon of Cyrene and the women of Jerusalem.

“I wanted to make it just exactly the way it really was. So, there would be no discrepancies about what went on during this time in the life of Christ, who was there and who witnessed it. And so, when you walk these stations, hopefully you’ll feel like you’re there the day that it’s happening,” said Mr. Lundergan.

“It’s my hope that if you’ve got pain, you’ll come here and be relieved, if you’ve got a problem, you’ll come here and figure it out. I hope this is a solution place,” said Mr. Lundergan, “that people will come here and know that this is a quiet, sacred place … it’s a sacred place for you to figure out things that you want to do better in your life and how you conquer things in your life.”

Such a precise level of detail will be prevalent throughout the walking path as visitors travel from station to station. Mr. Lundergan partnered with a research team out of Lexington, Kentucky, to ensure the path which visitors walk, will closely replicate the Via Dolorosa, the path Christ walked as he proceeded towards death.

“I wanted it to be close, if not just like the real walk in Jerusalem,” said Mr. Lundergan.

Including two small bridges featured along the route, which will take visitors over a manmade stream twice, because “the path that we’re on that Christ took the day of his crucifixion, he crossed over the water twice,” said Mr. Lundergan. “So, we have recreated that. We took the natural stream that was here and we rebuilt it.”

The stream has been landscaped with limestone rock from a local quarry, an homage to Maysville history. The stream will be supplied by three 10,000-gallon tanks circulating water through the landscape.

Each station along the path will have an audio accompaniment, where visitors will be able to hear reflections from Cardinal Dolan and Mr. Lundergan as they walk the route. Visitors will have the opportunity to stop at each station and truly reflect as benches are provided at each station, with kneelers included at the twelfth station.

“We all have little roadblocks in our life. And if you can come here and solve that roadblock by just reflection and prayer and really realize what the Lord went through for us, maybe this is all worthwhile,” said Mr. Lundergan. “The whole idea just behind this whole thing is to give back in a way that will be very beneficial to people — middle-aged people, senior people, anybody that needs quiet time, that wants to reflect and wants to figure out their next move in life.”

He continued saying, “I’m just hoping that people will use this as a way to get closer to the Lord and prepare themselves for the real life that they’re going to live in Heaven.”