Mother of God parishioners celebrate Jubilee pilgrimage to Ky. Holy Land

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In the spirit of the Jubilee Year Father Michael Comer, pastor, led 53 people from Mother of God parish on a pilgrimage to “The Holy Land of Kentucky.”  On July 8–9, the pilgrims were immersed in Kentucky’s Catholic roots, as well as visiting historic sites.

In 1775 the first Catholics came to Kentucky from America’s coastal colonies, settling the Bluegrass and Bardstown areas. These pioneers grew and sustained their community through solidarity and Catholic devotion, eventually gaining Father Stephen Badin as the first permanent pastor of the area. He was often the only priest in the wilderness of Kentucky, traveling near 100,000 miles on horseback during his ministry. In 1808 the Diocese of Bardstown was created, and Bishop Joseph Flaget was appointed to head this first inland diocese.

The Mother of God pilgrims’ journey took them to the Basilica of St. Joseph Protocathedral, a structure so highly regarded that it was funded by Catholics and Protestants alike, and to the Abbey of Gethsemani where Father Comer celebrated Mass in the Skakel Family Memorial Chapel.

The historical portion of the pilgrimage included a tour of Federal Hill (My Old Kentucky Home), dinner at historic Talbott Tavern, The Stephen Foster Story Outdoor Drama, the Lincoln Museum, and Abraham Lincoln’s boyhood home.

Young people are beacons of hope, said Pope Leo XIV ahead of Jubilee of Young People

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Bella Bailey

Multimedia Correspondent

The Jubilee of Young People is set to take place July 28–August 3 as part of the 2025 Jubilee Year: Pilgrims of Hope. Specific jubilee days within the jubilee year are meant to celebrate and recognize groups of people within the Church, highlighting them and their contributions.

The Jubilee of Young People, or youth, recognizes men and women ages 18-35 and invites them to continue on their journeys as Pilgrims of Hope.

In his 2023 message to youth for World Youth Day the late Holy Father Pope Francis said, “As young people, you are indeed the joyful hope of the Church and of a humanity always on the move.”

It is a continuation, then, of this joyful hope that will draw an estimated 1,000,000 young people to Rome, fulfilling their jubilee call to be pilgrims of hope.

“To the young people gathered here I would like to say that you are the promise of hope for so many of us,” said Pope Leo XIV in a video message during Mass at White Sox Stadium, Chicago, June 14, “…As you offer your own experience of joy and hope you find out, you can discover, that you too are indeed beacons of hope.”

The light from that beacon of hope is the radiant faith in Jesus Christ, said Pope Leo XIV, which grows brighter as people grow in unity and communion with others. Pilgrims traveling to Rome for the Jubilee of Young People will have the chance to unite and grow in that communion with others.

For those unable to travel to Rome there are many ways to engage with the local faith community and prayerfully participate in the Jubilee of Young People. Making a pilgrimage to a diocesan cathedral is recommended by the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB) as a way to participate and become a pilgrim of hope during the jubilee.

The Diocese of Covington’s own Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, Covington, has been designated by Bishop John Iffert as a sacred site where one could receive a jubilee indulgence, as well as St. John the Evangelist Church, Carrollton and St. Patrick Church, Maysville. A pilgrimage to any one of these sacred sites will allow those unable to attend the celebrations in Rome to have a pilgrimage experience for the Jubilee of Young People.

In addition to pilgrimages to local jubilee sites, the USCCB also recommends taking time for prayer and reflection. Specifically focusing on God’s providential graces and divine mercy, prayer is another way to celebrate the Jubilee of Young People from home.

In his video message Pope Leo XIV said, “When I see each and every one of you, when I see how people gather together to celebrate their faith, I discover how much hope there is in the world. In this Jubilee Year of Hope, Christ — who is our hope — calls all of us to come together that we might be that true living example of the light of hope in the world today.”

Covington celebrates Father Daniel Schomaker Day

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Bella Bailey

Multimedia Correspondent

Mayor Ron Washington of Covington officially declared July 4, 2025, as Father Daniel Schomaker Day in the City of Covington. The official act serves to honor the legacy and lasting impact Father Schomaker leaves behind at St. Augustine Parish, Covington, reading, “​Many in the community consider St. Augustine campus to be an anchor of the neighborhood and would like to recognize Fr. Schomaker’s efforts to enhance the community through his incredible stewardship while assigned to St. Augustine parish.”

The recognition comes after several Covington community members and St. Augustine parishioners wrote into the mayor’s office nominating Father Schomaker for the award.

Students from across the Diocese worship together at annual retreat

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Bella Bailey

Multimedia Correspondent

The Diocese of Covington Office of Youth Ministry hosted the annual High School Summer Retreat, July 12-13, at Thomas More University, Crestview Hills. These retreats are designed to help teens grow in their relationship with God and each other.

This year the theme for the retreat was aligned with the Gospel reading for the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Luke 10:25-37, in which Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

Based off the Gospel reading the 2025 retreat came to be called the Heart and Soul retreat, inviting students to open their heart and soul to Christ.

“It’s seasonal, it’s liturgical, and they get immersed into the rhythm of the Church. It is a specialized, unique retreat. It’s not one that they have received before. So, it’s very current in the moment and in tune with the prayer of the Church.” said Angie Poat, diocesan youth minister.

Fifty students from parishes across the diocese attended the two-day retreat, where they were able to take a break from everyday life, and bask in the glow of faith-filled peers, sacred celebrations and the Gospel.

“They yearn for this,” said Mrs. Poat. A sentiment that was evident amongst the students in attendance the morning of July 12 as they sang loudly and danced proudly to worship music.

“As long as I’m breathing, I’ve got a reason to praise the Lord,” sang the students as they danced together. Mrs. Poat sees a difference in the way the students praise from the first retreat to now, one she attributes to the efforts of the Eucharistic Revival and the Holy Spirit.

“I think it’s also a fruit of the Eucharistic Revival,” she said, “and these pods of young people around the Diocese who have wanted something like this, and now they have it. Each time they come their energy is growing, it’s the way that they sang and danced, you could see the growth.”

Aside from the singing and dancing, the retreat offered students a chance for reflection and renewal of their heart and soul.

“They’re hungry for authentic relationships, authentic worship and for the Word of God. When you have those three things together in the same place at the same time, it is life changing,” said Mrs. Poat.

While the goal of the retreat is to help students grow in their faith, Mrs. Poat hopes that these retreats allow the students to open their hearts to whatever Christ has in store for them and to see His love for them.

“I hope that they receive whatever the Lord has for them, but I also hope that they have a glimpse of the love that God has for them, that our Bishop has for them, and that we as a Church have for them,” she said.

St. Augustine Parish, Augusta, celebrates 150 years of the Sisters of Notre Dame

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Bella Bailey

Multimedia Correspondent

The Sisters of Notre Dame celebrated 150 years of ministry to St. Augustine Parish and School, Augusta, June 28, with Mass and a reception following. Celebrating Mass was Father Joey Shelton, pastor, St. Augustine Parish.

In 1875, 150 years ago, the Sisters of Notre Dame made their way to Augusta, Kentucky, one year after landing in the United States from Germany. Upon their arrival the sisters got to work establishing a parish school for St. Augustine Parish. Since then, Father Shelton said, the sisters have dedicated their entire selves to handing on the Catholic faith, equipping young people to grow into good parents, neighbors and friends.

“We owe these women an immense debt of gratitude,” said Father Shelton. “For all that they have done — teaching during the day, visits they made after school to help a student who had fallen behind, helping families in crisis, ministering to the poor, evangelizing the community, and even caring for us when we are struggling.”

Father Shelton shared a personal instance when Sister Nance Hehman came to his assistance mere days after moving into the St. Augustine rectory in 2020, assisted by his parents. The night his parents left, Father Shelton set out to cook himself dinner in the rectory, an “image of independence,” said Father Shelton. Things quickly changed when he cut his finger deeply and realized a first aid kit was not among the things unpacked in the recent days.

“What is my very first thought,” Father Shelton asked the congregation, “Call Sister,” he answered. “In just a moment she was over with a first aid kit and had helped me to pull myself back together,” he said.

“In every aspect of the life of the parish, from mending the pastor’s nearly amputated finger, to sacramental preparation, to service to the poor, and everything in between, Sister Nance is the glue that holds our community together,” said Father Shelton.

While Sister Nance has been serving as the parish glue for 18 years, 122 Sisters of Notre Dame have served the parish and school before her.

In the spring of 1875, three Notre Dame Sisters — Mary Paula, Mary Marzellina, and Mary Clara — made their way to the river town of Augusta to serve the educational and spiritual needs of its people.  “Though those original sisters only stayed three years, plenty more would come to replace those sisters and then more to replace those sisters and then more to replace those sisters,” said Father Shelton. “But whichever sister was here,” he continued, “they brought with them the charism of their order, the charism of discipline, direction and quality education.”

It is not just what the sisters have done and continue to do for the St. Augustine community that lends them a debt of gratitude, said Father Shelton, “it is who they are.”

“Today we celebrate not just what the Sisters of Notre Dame have done, but who they are: prophetic women, who by their very lives remind us that the Kingdom of Heaven is near. These women have, for 150 years, been ambassadors of heaven among us,” said Father Shelton.

Concluding his homily Father Shelton said, “We owe these women a gift of gratitude for who they are, mighty prophets of the Most High, who through their vocation to religious life have reminded us and continue to remind us that the Kingdom of God is at hand. So, for all that they have done and for all they are we say, ‘thank you’ to the Sisters of Notre Dame.”

Thomas More announces Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences

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Staff report

Father Ray Enzweiler, Ph.D., has been appointed Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at Thomas More University, effective immediately. Father Enzweiler has served as interim dean since April 2024.

“I am grateful to Father Ray for his leadership as interim dean and congratulate him on his appointment to the permanent role,” says vice president and chief academic officer Jay Langguth, Ph.D. “I look forward to the continued success of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences under his guidance.”

As dean, Father Enzweiler oversees 10 academic departments offering 19 baccalaureate degree programs and two graduate programs, including a Master of Arts in Teaching and a new Master of Education in Education Leadership in the School of Education.

Father Enzweiler serves on the academic leadership team, ensuring alignment of the College’s programs with the University’s mission and strategic plan, and plays a crucial role in advancing student and faculty success initiatives.

The dignity of the immigrant is the responsibility of the nation — diocesan presentation on immigration addresses social teaching and demonization of the migrant

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Maura Baker

Staff Writer

The Diocese of Covington, in collaboration with the Intercommunity Sisters Peace and Justice Committee, held a presentation, June 25, titled “Immigration: The Catholic Perspective.”

The first of its kind in the diocese, the presentation addressed the issue of immigration as it pertains to the current climate and the Catholic faith. Speakers, which included Mother of God pastor Father Michael Comer, Thomas More University professors James Camp and Hannah Keegan, Divine Providence Sister Kay Kramer and Notre Dame Sister Maria Francine Stacy, addressed topics such as the Catholic social teaching on immigration and the reality at the US/Mexico border — as well as the religious sisters sharing stories of personal witness of 25-plus years working directly with immigrant populations.

Extremely well-attended, what was expected to be a crowd of 20-30, turned out to be near 200 participants filling Bishop Howard Memorial Auditorium.

Hannah Keegan, who works at Thomas More University as the director of the Center of Faith, Mission and Catholic Education, highlighted the Catholic Church’s teaching on immigration. The Church teaches and encourages the right of the migrant to seek safety and asylum as much as the right of the nation to secure its borders — however, it is the responsibility of a country to treat all immigrants with respect and dignity.

“Pope Francis has also said this, whether you embrace them, welcoming them into your country or have to send them back to their country, it’s done affirming their dignity, and not demonizing them,” said Ms. Keegan, who pointed out the USCCB’s poignant stance on nativism. “Like it says on page three USCCB, the native does not have superior rights over the immigrant and that’s a different narrative than the one we’re hearing.”

Following Ms. Keegan’s presentation, Sister Maria Francine’s presentation put a face to immigration by sharing her personal witness with migrants she has met and served in her ministry — having ministered in the Boone County detention center, which holds detained immigrants. She presented names and faces — such as a father separated from his family, and a mother of a young child who lost her husband crossing the Darien Gap — stressing the importance of seeing the immigrant as a person and an individual, not just a number or statistic.

The Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption chimeras to land within months as project completion draws near

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Bella Bailey

Multimedia Correspondent

The Diocese of Covington Restored in Christ Campaign is nearing completion as the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, Covington, enters the final stages of construction. Still to be completed in the coming months is the finishing of: Dutchmen repairs to the tracery, stone replacement, terracotta reglazing; instillation of the gargoyles, chimeras, lower columns, bases and cross; the stabilization of seven spires; and final touches such as the façade cleaning and the sealing of the 12 unsealed windows.

Don Knochelmann, diocesan director of the Buildings and Property Office, said the chimera will be the first to arrive but the last to be installed, hoping to minimize the possibility of damage during their instillation.

Trisco Construction Company continues its work of the upper tracery, which is the limestone columns and the decorative pieces at the top of the Cathedral, this will continue through August, said Mr. Knochelmann.

The gargoyles, which are nearing completion at Boston Valley Terra Cotta, New York, are on track to be installed in October.

“Everything they’re doing now is a continuation of what they’ve been doing all along. There’s stone replacement, there’s terracotta glazing around the tracery, around the windows, column replacement. It’s a big project. We’re doing some sealing around the windows to repair leaks,” said Mr. Knochelmann

The Restored in Christ Campaign, which was announced in early 2023, has been raising funds to support the repair and restoration of the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption. Currently, 96 percent of the $7,560,000 goal has been raised, with $250,000 left to raise.

Bishop John Iffert says about the fundraising goal nearing completion, “I am deeply grateful for your sacrificial gifts that have raised an incredible $7.31 million toward our Cathedral Renovation Capital Campaign … Because of your unwavering support, the Cathedral Basilica will continue to shine as a timeless symbol of faith, beauty and community in our Diocese of Covington.”

Religious sisters give witness to God through their lives, says Bishop Iffert at annual Serran luncheon

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Maura Baker

Staff Writer

Annually, the Serra Club for Vocations — an organization that promotes and sponsors vocations to the priesthood and religious life — hosts a luncheon for the women religious of the Diocese of Covington. This year’s luncheon, held at the Devou Park Golf and Event center, July 8, celebrated the women in attendance with an afternoon of lunch, games and fellowship.

Bishop John Iffert, who attended the luncheon, addressed the sisters and thanked them for their work across the diocese — in service, in prayer and in teaching. But, Bishop Iffert said, “even more than the work is the witness of your life that you give.”

“We dedicated ourselves to God … your whole life is that witness. And so, I’m very grateful.”

Continuing from his point, Bishop Iffert commented on the fact that vocations to the religious life are “fewer and fewer” in the United States, and thus asked for prayers from the sisters and the Serra Club members presents, to “bombard heaven” with prayer — “to keep that witness alive in the Church, in the Diocese of Covington and around the world.”

As Sisters of Notre Dame celebrate final 4th of July festival, legacy continues in the people

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Laura Keener

Editor

Notre Dame Sister Cormarie Rebhan patiently encouraged the young children to “pick a winner” as they fastidiously maneuvered fishing nets around the festival’s Duck Pond to snare a rubber a duck in exchange for a prize. Joan Lecoy, parishioner, Sts. Boniface and James Parish, Ludlow, and volunteer at the festival also working the Duck Pond, leaned over and whispered, “they’re all winners.”

The Sisters of Notre Dame, Covington, held its final Fourth of July Festival this year, ending a 103-year tradition. The festival began in 1922 as a way for local parishioners to help support the Sisters and to fund the building and maintenance of St. Joseph Heights convent, Park Hills.

At that time the St. Joseph Heights Home Association, affectionately known by the Sisters as “The Old Faithful Club” and led by John F. Cook, Grand Knight of the Price Hill Council of the Knights of Columbus, organized the first Fourth of July Festival. For 103 years the Club has helped the Sisters of Notre Dame organize the Fourth of July Festival, which has become a way for the entire community to not only financially support the Sisters but also to come together in joy and gratitude.

“Today we dress in red, white and blue and are graced with patriotic fun and genuine friendship in the SND style,” wrote Notre Dame Sister Mary Dennise Wagenlander, Festival Chair, in the “103 4th of July Festival: Fun for the Whole Family” program distributed at the event. “We treasure you, our faithful supporters and partners, in doing the mission of Jesus. We are grateful for the many ways you contribute to help us fund-raise and friend-raise.”

Walter Witt, parishioner, St. Agnes Parish, Ft. Wright, is one of the many volunteers who, out of love and respect for the Sisters, has been working the festivals. Mr. Witt will celebrate his 90th birthday next month, and the Sisters of Notre Dame have been a part of his life since he was a student at Sacred Heart School, Bellevue. He is grateful to the Sisters of Notre Dame for their dedication to Catholic education, not only his own but also that of his five children and the thousands of children throughout the Diocese of Covington over the last 151 years, beginning with Mother of God School, Covington in 1874.

“The Sisters, they have staffed I don’t know how many schools right in this area. Ever since they came here from Germany the sisters have, you know, given a lot to the community,” said Mr. Witt.

Mr. Witt said he began volunteering at the festival 50-plus years ago. His daughter, Margaret, a second grader at St. Agnes School, raised her hand when Sister Paulita asked for volunteers to help the festival. Since then, the Witt family has been a mainstay at the festival, beginning with the Grocery Booth and moving up to the Major Raffle booth for the last 25 years.

“They’ve (the Sisters of Notre Dame) been part of my life, you know, in my younger days of formation, and you appreciate these things,” said Mr. Witt. “If you can say ‘thank you’ by giving them some service when they need some helpers, I was honored to do it.”

The Fourth of July Festival is ending the way it began, being connected to the rise and fall of the St. Joseph Heights building. For over 100 years, St. Joseph Heights has been home to the Sisters of Notre Dame. With the number of Sisters decreasing, so did the need for the large historic building. The Sisters conducted studies to find ways to repurpose the building, but none proved feasible. Days after the final Fourth of July festival, O’Rourke Demolition Company began razing the building, July 7.

The Sisters of Notre Dame plan to continue its mission and ministries in Northern Kentucky by repurposing the property to address the many needs of senior adults, including recreation, education, housing, inter-generational opportunities and meeting space for Park Hills seniors. This work will continue as St. Charles Community, a senior living community founded by the Sisters of Notre Dame, assumes the property.

“The ministry and mission of the Sisters of Notre Dame will be continued from the Dixie Highway to the expressway. That whole the property can then house the mission and ministry,” said Notre Dame Sister Shauna Bankemper.

By the end of October 2024, all of the Sisters had moved from the Heights building. Of the 68 Sisters of Notre Dame living in Kentucky, 38 are living at St. Charles Community. The other 30 Sisters are living and ministering in the Northern Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati area.

“The Sisters might not be living there, but our mission is continuing through St. Charles and Notre Dame Academy,” said Sister Shauna. “The building isn’t the legacy. Our legacy is the people. You are our legacy. Where you go, our mission and ministry goes forward. You carry it forward,” she said about the all the students taught by the Sisters of Notre Dame and at Notre Dame Academy and all of the people whose lives have been touched by the Sisters.

Considering the immense influence of the Sisters of Notre Dame, through the grace of God and his Divine Providence, like the children at the Duck Pond, all the people in Northern Kentucky are winners.