Following God is counter cultural, said Bishop Iffert at Holy Thursday Mass

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Bella Bailey

Multimedia Correspondent

The Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper was held at the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, Covington, where celebrant and homilist Bishop John Iffert shared a message of salvation through Christ, and the counter cultural worship of the Lord.

In the first reading, the Lord passes a commandment to Moses that all households should procure an unblemished lamb for slaughter. The blood of this lamb shall be sacrificed in the name of the Lord, its blood applied to the doorposts and its flesh roasted for eating.

This worship of God, Bishop Iffert said, would be “abhorrent,” to the Egyptians. “You see, in the land of Egypt, these young creatures, especially the more perfect they were, would have been considered a reflection of the divine.” By participating in this sacrificial worship, the Israelites “reject the worship of the land of Egypt, and instead they will worship the one true God. This is testimony to their neighbors that they do not fit in,” said Bishop Iffert. Their worship of the Lord would have been deemed countercultural, and “enraged” their neighbors, said Bishop Iffert.

In the second reading, Jesus shares the words which are echoed at every celebration of the Eucharist, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

“Jesus taught his disciples that this was his body and his blood. He was anticipating his own sacrifice on the cross, which would come in the following hours. He anticipated his own gift of himself and instead of lamb, he places his own, divine, human self at the center of the sacrifice,” said Bishop Iffert.

In his own sacrifice, Jesus acts as the sacrificial lamb from the time of Moses, and during the Last Supper he casts aside any status he might have and washes the feet of his disciples.

“He rises from the meal, and he puts aside his outer cloak, the outer cloak that for so many in the society would have represented their social standing,” said Bishop Iffert. And wrapping a towel around his waist, “he proceeded to wash the feet of the disciples. And he taught us again to reject the weight of the world, he taught us again to reject that kind of culture of empire where the only one right and wrong is what you have the power and wealth to get away with,” said Bishop Iffert.

The readings at the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, represent a counter cultural way to live. To know one’s own weakness, and in the way of the disciples, have our feet washed by the Lord in the course of salvation.

Bishop Iffert said, “We need to know that our feet are filthy and that they must be washed by the Lord Jesus Christ. We need to be sustained in the way. We need to be saved. It’s counter cultural to know that you’re needy and to embrace it.”

“Being a follower of Jesus, is always counter cultural, to be true to the worship of God has always been a different way to live. Jesus asks not that we be successful but that you love one another in everything you do. We pray to be worthy of the teaching of the God of Man, the one who loves us and who loves us to the end” he said.

Cardinal Dolan, Bishop Iffert bless and dedicate the Gardens at St. Patrick’s on Holy Wednesday

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Maura Baker

Staff Writer

The Gardens at St. Patrick’s beckoned hundreds to a celebration, ribbon cutting and Mass on April 1, with founder Gerald Lundergan, his wife Charlotte Lundergan and other esteemed guests such as former President of the United States Bill Clinton, a personal friend of the Lundergans; Archbishop Emeritus of New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan; former University of Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari; and the diocese’s own Bishop John Iffert and Bishop Emeritus Roger Foys. Together, they cut the symbolic ribbon in front of the state-of-the-art welcome center, opening the Gardens to all, inviting them to a place of prayer, reverence and personal pilgrimage, where they can follow along in Christ’s paschal mystery.

Cardinal Dolan began the celebration of Mass outdoors, among the stations, with Bishop John Iffert; Father Augustine Aidoo, pastor, St. Patrick Church, Maysville; Father Joshua Heskamp, parochial vicar, St. Patrick Church; Father Michael Black, parochial administrator, St. John the Baptist Parish, Wilder; Father Andrew Young, pastor, St. Joseph Parish, Cold Spring; and Deacon Steve Winbigler, also of St. Joseph Parish, Cold Spring, before the threat of rain and increased wind speed necessitated the celebration to move indoors.

“Sometimes when you have these kinds of emergencies, it’s more memorable, and it kind of reminds us, it’s his sacrifice, it’s his supper; we’re blessed to participate in it,” said Cardinal Dolan of the change in location mid-celebration.

Given the abrupt change, Cardinal Dolan’s homily was brief but impactful. He reminded those who remained of the spiritual song which says, “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” In response, Cardinal Dolan told the crowd, “You bet we were and we sure are. Thanks to these living stations of the cross here in Maysville, we were there. We are there. The passion, death and resurrection of the Lord didn’t just happen. It is happening.”

This echoes a sentiment which Cardinal Dolan shared with the students of St. Patrick School, Maysville: “These are life-size. These are really going to make the Passion and death of our Lord come alive because it is alive. Jesus is still on this cross. Jesus is still rising from the dead, and he wants us to be close to him.”

“Our life is united to the life-size stations of the cross. Our life is united to Jesus, who told us that he is the way, the truth and the life,” he said to the students.

The Gardens at St. Patrick’s is a 6-acre recreation of the Passion of Christ, complete with extraordinary attention to detail and a 7.5-story-tall lighted cross. Visitors will begin their journey in a symbolic Garden of Gethsemane, where a 6,000-year-old olive press sits, a reminder of Gethsemane’s original function as an olive garden before its key role as the location of Judas’ betrayal.

“You can walk through this garden and touch that implementation and think of Jesus and his work and the incarnation and the way he emptied himself out to become one of us,” said Bishop Iffert at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The garden will lead visitors down a scaled replica of the Via Dolorosa, the path which Christ walked to crucifixion, where they will marvel at the strategically placed life-sized stations of the cross. The sculptures were hand-carved by Italian sculptor Reto Demetz and his team in Northern Italy, before being shipped to their permanent home at the Gardens of St. Patrick’s.

“I want it to be just like it is in Jerusalem,” said Mr. Lundergan at a private endowment luncheon prior to the public celebrations. “I want it to be exactly like Jerusalem so that when people come they go to Jerusalem, they’ll know exactly what our Lord went through, for each and every one of us.”

Praying the Stations of the Cross is a common practice during Lent, a time of penance and sacrifice, as a way to connect with Christ and his great sacrifice on the cross.

“We have a tradition,” Bishop Iffert said at the ribbon-cutting. “We speak of that as those who are baptized into Jesus as being called to live as Alter Christi — other Christs. After his pattern, in his style of loving the people he loves, learning to live sacrificially as he lives.”

“This is what a garden like this is about. This is what the Stations of the Cross are about,” he said. “Inviting us to walk literally in the path of Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not deem equality with God something to be grasped at, but rather he emptied himself out, becoming human, like one of us in all things but sin. That’s what this garden is about. It’s about forming people, forming people to live like Christ, to live into that baptismal call, to become the hands and feet, the extension of Christ in the world.”

The beautifully, intricately carved stations serve as a stark recreation of the Passion of Christ. With the emotion shown raw on the statue faces, livid anger and gut-wrenching sadness, it makes real the passion, death and resurrection.

“Anybody who thinks that God is distant, anybody who thinks that God doesn’t know what they’re going through, anybody that thinks that God is way beyond this, let them come to Maysville and let them come to this Garden of St. Patrick. Let them look in the eyes of the life-size Christ. Let them see him fall and try to get back up. Let them see his mother’s tears as she greets him on the Via Crucis. Let them see the anger and the violence in the soldiers. Let them see,” said Cardinal Dolan at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

“These gardens are more than just soil and stone,” said Mr. Lundergan at the endowment luncheon. “They are a sacred path that tells a story of suffering, sacrifice and ultimately redemption. These stations remind us that Christ himself carried a cross, and in our own lives, we are each called to carry our cross.”

Speaking to the hundreds gathered at the welcome center, Mr. Lundergan said, “No matter if you’re Catholic, Protestant, Christian, as long as you believe in the Lord and what he did for us, this is your garden.”

Bishop Iffert said to the crowd, “When we have the stations built on such a magnificent stage, such a magnificent proportion, maybe it will just help us to think for just a moment about how living after the image and likeness of Jesus means that he takes all of us, every gift that we have to give, every sorrow we have to suffer, and he takes it … he blesses it, he breaks it, he shares it, he makes it plenty. That’s what a place like this can do for us.”

We are invited into the life of Christ, says Bishop during Easter Vigil

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Maura Baker

Staff Writer

With a service beginning in total darkness, illuminated only by an Easter Fire — the celebration of the Easter Vigil after sunset marks the official end of the Lenten season and the beginning of Easter, the celebration of Christ’s resurrection.

The pews were filled as the vigil began at the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, Covington — with Bishop John Iffert serving as the Mass’s celebrant and homilist. Among the congregation were 16 candidates and catechumens, who would receive the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Communion during the service. These numbers are representative of more than 420 who were welcomed into the Church during the Easter Vigil across the diocese, a more than 57 percent increase from last year.

As his homily began, Bishop Iffert welcomed all who were present — Cathedral parishioners, their families, visitors and, in a special way, the candidates and catechumens.

“Welcome especially to those who have been journeying with us,” he said, greeting also the families and friends of these individuals who had come to support this step in their journey.

Remarking on some struggle to light the Paschal candle at the beginning of the Mass, following the blessing of the fire, Bishop Iffert spoke on his worries since that the fire would go out.

“Just before I walked over here to the ambo to begin sharing,” Bishop Iffert said, “I looked up and I saw that flame dancing above the top of the candle. And what happens? Fear is transformed into joy. That’s as good a place to begin tonight as any, isn’t it?”

With a smile, Bishop Iffert said that “it fits with what I was hoping to say to you when I came in tonight.”

Bishop Iffert spoke about the fear felt by the three women who came to discover the tomb empty, and how the angel speaks to the women, “Do not be afraid.”

“He tells them that the Lord Jesus is not in the tomb but has been raised from the dead and has gone before them. And then, he sends them. It says they went quickly from the tomb — fearful, and yet overjoyed.”

“I love that description,” Bishop Iffert remarked. “Although the angel has told them ‘do not be afraid’, they remain fearful. The events of Good Friday do not go away, they are not undone. They remain with questions in their heart.”

Later, as the women encounter Jesus, still “bearing the weight of the cross,” as Bishop Iffert said, “notice what he says, ‘Do not be afraid.’ Do not let your fear have the last word. Do not let that fear dominate your life. Do not let that fear steal away hope. Do not live in the darkness.”

“These women are sent on a mission,” said Bishop Iffert. “They encounter the risen Lord, first to encounter the risen Lord, and they are sent on a mission to go — go and tell.”

“This is the truth of the situation for all of us,” he continued. “We are invited into life in Jesus. Jesus, who himself carried the cross, doesn’t always volunteer to take our crosses away from us.”

Bishop Iffert said, “We might be like these women, as if we’re sitting in darkness, looking for something that we can’t even put into words, and we’re waiting — but we’re waiting in a new way, no longer overwhelmed by fear, but joyful with the promise of the resurrected light of Christ.”

“May the light of Christ never die in our heart,” he concluded, “may we always see him and know him, catching glimpses of the joyfulness of his life — and may that joy carry us into the resurrected life.”

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month — here’s how you can raise awareness and support children in need

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Maura Baker

Staff Writer

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. “The month of April offers us the opportunity to come together to protect our children and ensure every child has a safe and nurturing environment where they can grow and thrive,” wrote the USCCB Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection in the conference’s 2026 materials.

Participation in raising awareness for Child Abuse Prevention Month includes wearing blue, the recognized color for child abuse prevention and awareness, or displaying pinwheels — another symbol of the movement. The Diocese of Covington, including the Curia building in Covington, and other Greater Cincinnati organizations and businesses will also be participating in the “Light it Up Blue” campaign, shining blue light onto their buildings and businesses — a campaign that Julie Feinauer, director, Office of Safe Environment, says that individuals are encouraged to participate in, too, lighting their homes blue in support of this important initiative.

Other ways to support child abuse prevention, both in April and year wide, is to support “local agencies that help women who are in domestic violence situations,” Mrs. Feinauer said, “because that is one place (homes) where children are abused, are in these violent homes.”  Such organizations include the Brighton Center, Catholic Charities and the Rose Garden Home Mission.

“All of these places give support to low-income families or to families who are struggling,” said Mrs. Feinauer. “Anytime that you are taking stress out of people’s lives, it’s helping to ensure that children aren’t going to be put into abusive situations.”

“Unfortunately, the Catholic Church in particular has become associated with abuse,” she said, “We want to be seen as the Church moving forward doing everything that we can to prevent, to help educate and to give resources to children and families in need.”

The Diocese of Covington continues to support this mission of healing — with 3 p.m. monthly Holy Hours held at the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, Covington, held on the third Thursday of each month praying for victims of abuse. And with programs such as VIRTUS, which vet the volunteers and individuals who interact with children in the diocese and educate adults on important topics such as how to create safe environments for children as well as recognize and report suspected abuse — as all adults in Kentucky are considered mandatory reporters. And by educating its school children, preschool through 12th grade, on safety by identifying boundaries and reporting to safe adults through the VIRTUS Empowering God’s Children program.

“We are grateful for the work of individuals, organizations and policymakers who continue to work for the protection of children from abuse and neglect,” the USCCB concluded their letter for 2026 Child Abuse Prevention Month, further encouraging all Catholics and people nationally to continue the mission.

The baptized are ‘instruments of Christ’, said Bishop at Chrism Mass

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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.”

UNHEARDOF designer gives shoes to diocesan students, promotes friendship, community and perseverance

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Maura Baker

Staff Writer

Seventh and eighth-grade students from St. Therese, Southgate; St. Paul, Florence; St. Philip, Melbourne and Prince of Peace, Covington, were invited to join UNHEARDOF brand shoe designer Phil Lipschutz, March 27, along with representatives from Adidas and shoe influencer and photographer Andrew Dutton, to the launch of his new collaborative sneaker at the Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati.

The “Piggy Runners” released during the drop were given for free to each student present, in bright, nostalgic spring colors. Specifically, students received the shoe in a green “Cupcake” colorway, named for one of Mr. Lipschutz’s childhood friends.

The Contemporary Arts Center welcomed students with colorful, springtime and Easter-themed décor matching Mr. Lipschutz’s shoes, and mascots of Mr. Lipschutz’s pink pig mascot “Porkchop” (named after his own childhood nickname) and green pig mascot “Cupcake” joined in the festivities.

Donating these special shoes has become a tradition for Mr. Lipschutz as a way to give back to his community, crediting especially the efforts of his former teacher and current diocesan Safe Environment director, Julie Feinauer, for his success following a turbulent childhood growing up in Latonia.

Speaking directly to the students present, Mr. Lipschutz said, “I know what it’s like with some of the challenges and some of the experiences that you guys go through, but what has really helped me through my life is my friends and building new friends and communicating with my friends. I’ve done a lot of shows with Adidas over the last few years,” he said, “I’m not going to run through them all, but a lot of them talk about mental health and suicide prevention.”

Mr. Lipschutz, who lost his sister to suicide, said that he advocates in particular for kids to “continue to talk each other” and “continue to speak up.”

“If we quit the name-calling, quit the picking on one another, and we just hash out our differences and our problems — we can ‘oink’ the whole world,” said Mr. Lipschutz, humorously referencing his pig-themed branding and mascots.

“You guys are going to change the world,” Mr. Lipschutz told students. “You guys are going to make an impact and make this an even cooler, doper planet that it already is. Without a doubt, I’m so fortunate and I’m so thankful to be alive, and you should too, because you only get one life. You’ve got to maximize it. You can’t waste it. You can’t give up on yourself.”

Protecting kids in an online world where new dangers are rampant

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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.”

Young people help to promote a ‘culture of life’, says Bishop Emeritus at Pro-life Essay

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Maura Baker

Staff Writer

Annually, eighth-grade students from diocesan secondary schools are invited to participate in the Pro-life Essay Contest. This year, the contest’s theme aligned with the USCCB’s 2025-26 Respect Life Theme, “Life — Our Sign of Hope.”

“Bishop Daniel Thomas, Bishop of Toledo, asked us to be anchors of hope in our diocese.  I took this theme and ran with it when speaking to our students,” said Faye Roch, director of the Office of Pro-life who organizes the contest.

20 finalist essays from 10 different schools were chosen out of 250 essays, including a first, second and third place winner and two honorable mentions. Winners received scholarships courtesy of the Knights of Columbus for their efforts.

On March 26, finalists and their families, along with Pro-life advocates and members of the contest’s selection committee gathered for a banquet. During which, members of the committee read to the crowd excerpts from each finalist’s essay, as well as the winners’ and honorable mentions’ essays in full.

This year, the first-place essay was written by Emma Haney of St. Joseph School, Crescent Springs. (To read her winning essay see page 5.) Second place was awarded to Drew Marshall, St. Pius X School, Edgewood, and third place to Sammi Schmitz, also from St. Pius X. Honorable mentions were awarded to Addison Delaney, St. Mary School, Alexandria, and Briana Saalfeld, Holy Cross Elemenrary School, Latonia.

Awards were distributed to students by Bishop Emeritus Roger Foys, who additionally gave his remarks at the banquet.

He began by quoting Pope Leo XIV’s general audience the day before, “The sanctity of life, from conception to natural death, must be defended — especially now in a world marked by the madness of war.”

“We fought for many years, almost 50, to overturn Roe v. Wade,” Bishop Foys said, “… The easiest work is behind us, because what we need to do now is to promote a culture of life.”

Recalling the negative reception to the bills overturning on major news outlets and within communities, Bishop Foys said that “happened because, even though we were able to overturn that Roe v. Wade decision, we still had not achieved a culture of life … It’s behind me, at my age, but it’s ahead of us, especially in these young people,” he addressed the essay finalists.

“I think these essays tonight should give us hope — should be an anchor of hope for us that there are young people who can express in many, many ways, in a profound way, their love of life,” he said. “I think that’s remarkable, and for that we should be grateful, and we should thank God, and we should thank these young people.”

Help shape the future of the Diocese of Covington

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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

The crucifixion reminds us of Christ’s humility, Bishop Iffert says in Palm Sunday homily

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Maura Baker

Staff Writer

Holy Week began with the observance of Palm Sunday, March 29. Mass began at the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, Covington, on a breezy spring morning, with the congregation, carrying palms, gathering across the street from the Cathedral at St. Mary’s Park — where the palms were blessed and hymns sung before processing back across the street for the Mass proper.

During the observance of Palm Sunday, the Passion of Christ is read — describing Jesus’s journey starting with his arrival into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey, until he is crucified and laid in the tomb. The Scripture is read in parts, with different speakers taking on the dialogue of characters such as the apostles, Christ, and other key players, while the congregation reads the parts of the crowd/public.

Bishop John Iffert was the celebrant and homilist for the Mass, during which he commented on the social hierarchy of Ancient Roman society and how it relates to Jesus’s humility.

“Roman society in the first century AD was a highly competitive and stratified society,” Bishop Iffert said. “They were the most status symbol-conscious society of the ancient world. The elite especially thought of their lives as a contest, an honors race … honor meant personal esteem and public office.”

“Though Jesus was in the form of God, he emptied himself, becoming the form of a slave — the very bottom of the social status pecking order.” Bishop Iffert described that not only did Jesus “humble himself” by stooping from divine status to the lowest form of human servitude, “but Paul establishes that Jesus lived his human life in a particularly surprising and humbling way.”

“He was obedient to the Father,” he said. “Even to the point of death, he was a humble servant to the Father. Throughout his lifetime, this devoted and loving servitude made him a servant even to his fellow man, even to his fellow slave.”

The climax of Paul’s statement, according to Bishop Iffert, was that Jesus not only accepted death, but even death on a cross.

“Death on a cross was not only the ultimate extreme of pain,” Bishop Iffert said, “but especially of humiliation.

“The execution method of crucifixion was reserved only for non-citizen criminals, especially slaves,” Bishop Iffert added.

“If the city of Philippi was filled with inscriptions posted by citizens eager to boast of their accomplishments in the Roman race for honors, if we are sometimes preoccupied with status, wealth, office, nationality, celebrity, social media … if we get wrapped up in any of that,” said Bishop Iffert, “Paul counters this mindset with his acclamation of Jesus Christ’s self-emptying humility. Jesus, he meets our own self-promoting passions with his wholehearted embrace of the Father’s will … and he enters into the suffering passion that our selfish sins deserve. And because of this humility, meekness and obedience — God the Father exalts him.”