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Q&A: Bishop Iffert reflects on five years leading the Diocese of Covington

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Laura Keener

Editor

Question: Looking back on your first five years as bishop, what has surprised you most about the role and about the community you serve?

Bishop Iffert: One of the most surprising things is just how warmly I have been welcomed by people. The welcome here has been very warm, and I continue to be surprised by how eager people are to have me engaged in their activities. The office of bishop somehow makes the whole Church present, and it communicates that what a person is engaged in is meaningful for the life of the Church. I was familiar with that as a pastor, because the pastor does the same thing in a parish, but as a bishop it is magnified. I am amazed at what ordination and consecration as a bishop can do, and how the bishop can embody the Church and Christ in people’s lives.

Question: What about the Diocese of Covington itself? Was there anything that surprised you?

Bishop Iffert: One surprise is how much it feels like home. I come from the very southern part of Illinois, where Midwestern and Southern culture mix, and I feel the same thing here in Covington. It is also the same Catholic German settler culture, with similar settlement patterns. The other surprise is the strength of the Church here. We have a very strong and dynamic Church in Covington, especially the strength of the school system. To have the number of students we do, and such a strong school system, has been amazing.

Question: Has the office of bishop itself been fundamentally different than what you thought it would be?

Bishop Iffert: Not really. I had always worked closely with bishops, so I had seen what bishops do. The one thing that has surprised me is how much there is to contribute beyond the diocese — to the life of the Church in the region, the national Church and even the universal Church. I am engaged with a couple of committees for the conference, and there is also the work of maintaining fraternity among the bishops in the province and region. I have been a little surprised by how often that takes me outside the diocese, but it is good. Every bishop has a responsibility not only to his diocese, but to the larger Church as well.

Question: You mentioned before how well the bishops respect and work together. Has that been refreshing?

Bishop Iffert: Yes, refreshing. Sometimes if you read media, even Catholic media, you get the idea that bishops are at one another’s throats, or that clergy are marked by careerism. I have never found that to be true. Five years in, the fraternity among the bishops is overwhelming. Even bishops who disagree, maybe even publicly, can still be very supportive of one another. There are bishops who would do things differently than I would do them, or decide things differently than I would decide them, but I have always felt supported by my brother bishops, I’ve never seen a lack of caring. Terms like liberal and conservative get thrown around, but there is a fraternity among the bishops that bridges all of that.

Question: In your first five years, you have seen quite a bit of change — the death of two popes, the election of the first American pope and the Synod on Synodality. What are your thoughts on that change?

Bishop Iffert: Synodality, this is a movement, a characterization of the Church that I welcome. I think it has been present from the beginning in the life of the Church. At the Council of Jerusalem, Peter led not by domineering, but by inviting people into discussion, giving his witness and letting people respond. I understand synodality not as putting everything up for a vote or simply airing opinions, but as valuing and listening to one another, then turning together to the Holy Spirit to discern the path forward. I think it is one of the essential qualities of the Church. I see Pope Francis, and now Pope Leo, reminding us of that and helping us recover it. It has always been a natural part of the way leadership looks in the Church, so, I embrace that.

Question: You have encouraged councils, deaneries and parish councils to adopt that kind of approach. What do you call it?

Bishop Iffert: Spiritual conversation — conversations in the Spirit. Councils sometimes need business meetings and agendas, but that should never be the main work of councils. We need to recover time spent in prayer together, holding one another in prayer, and a conversational approach attentive to the movement of the Spirit. I think we’ve forgotten that the reason we call it a “council” is that those people who serve are “counselors,” who are intended to give pastors the benefit of their wisdom. When we state an opinion or put an idea on the table, we give up ownership of it. Then we work together to discern which ideas seem to have the life of the Holy Spirit within them and what God’s will is in that moment … It’s reminding us that we, the Church, we are a living organism. We are the body of Christ, and we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. And it’s reminding us to take seriously the vocation of being attentive to the way the Holy Spirit moves in the whole temple, in the whole body.

Question: Pope Francis called you to the episcopacy. What did his death mean to you, and what are your thoughts on Pope Leo?

Bishop Iffert: There will always be a special place in my heart where I mourn Pope Francis. Every bishop has a special relationship with the pope who calls him to the episcopacy, it’s more than a brotherly connection, almost like a grandfatherly connection and my time with him was short. On pilgrimage to Rome last year, I was able to visit Francis’ tomb at St. Mary Major and pray for him there. That was very meaningful to me. At the same time, the election of Pope Leo is exciting — an Illinoisan, a man born in the United States and a citizen of the world who knows the American context well. I think he has proven adept at advancing much of the agenda Pope Francis brought to us, perhaps even more effectively than Francis himself. I could not be more thrilled with the spiritual richness of the Petrine ministry right now.

Question: You like to travel, and since arriving here you have been on pilgrimages, a mission trip, a pastoral visit to Africa and a trip representing the USCCB. How do those travels inspire you?

Bishop Iffert: Encountering the Church is what it is. My first trip to Africa was a kind of pilgrimage. I went to the Archdiocese of Kumasi to thank the archbishop and the families of the men who serve here in our diocese, and to understand the local Church that has been sending priests to us. It is a very different experience of Church — incredibly young. I learned the median age in many of these societies is as low as 17. The median age in Kentucky is 39.7. So, the Church is so much younger, even though the Church there is ancient, going back to the apostles. To witness that Church, to pray with that Church, to dance with that Church in a way that would make our little German hearts just stunned, in a way that for them is absolutely normal, all of that, gives you a broader experience of what the Church is and who Christ is in the midst of that living body. In Madagascar, I visited a parish community that began with one priest and about 40 lay people serving people living on polluted dumps. Now they feed 12,000 people a day and educate about 8,000 young people. To pray with thousands of extraordinarily poor and very young people is like being formed again. Travel is an exercise in formation and education for me; it’s like a catechism. Pilgrimage travel also gives me the chance to know people from our diocese and share moments that can be life changing.

Question: You have led the diocese through one major planning process, With One Heart, and are in the middle of another, the Commissions. How are these planning processes informing your episcopacy?

Bishop Iffert: I am grateful to see fruit coming from that work. So, we did the DMI survey as we began that process and we did it again after three years. We saw movement across the diocese on many indicators, and parishes that actively worked their pastoral plans saw even stronger growth in some areas. It reinforces for me that we cannot just keep the lights on. We have to set goals and work to achieve them. That’s just my experience of our human nature. What separates the With One Heart process from what we’re doing now with the Commissions is the leadership development piece and that has been crucial. Many priests have completed Good Leaders, Good Shepherds and have integrated those skills into their life as a priest, especially around team formation.  Then we had 70 or more lay people formed as Missionary Disciples who meet regularly now. They are now sharing that formation with others across the diocese. Planning brings intentionality. It strengthens my conviction that the Holy Spirit is calling us to be Church outside the walls and outside Sunday morning — to let liturgy form us into active agents of compassion and mercy. Planning helps us clarify how we move toward mission.

Question: What would you say about the strategic planning process happening now, especially around the Curia, resources, schools and structures?

Bishop Iffert: I often compare the Church to a Jell-O mold; the Church is very sensitive. You touch a Jello-O mold, and it quivers. It’s the same way with the Church. Right now, my hands are on a lot of the life of the Church, so there is a lot of quivering, and it will take time. With the Foundation work, we are asking how we can promote a gracious response to God’s goodness and move from a mindset of scarcity toward one that takes God’s abundance into account.

In our Schools, Catholic Charities and Diocesan structures, we are asking how we can receive what we have been given and move forward in a way that builds on it. Our schools have been and can continue to be tremendous tools for evangelization. We have inherited a beautifully developed Catholic school system, but our Catholic school system is struggling with enrollment, where enrollment has seen decreases over last two decades. We have the crisis of how we replace the free labor of the religious who built these institutions. We’re saying, okay, we have to now provide for these institutions in a different way. How do we do that? How do we do that while maintaining the strength and health of our parishes, so that the parishes can be active agents of Christ’s love in the world. I know there has been fear that this is a Trojan horse to close parishes or schools, but there is no intention of that. We are hearing recommendations, inviting people to help shape goals into plans, and bringing a realism test to what we can accomplish. I am very hopeful good can come from this time of consideration.

Question: The Catholic Church is navigating declining Mass attendance, fewer priests and changing attitudes toward religion. How do you see the diocese responding over the next five years?

Bishop Iffert: First, there are good signs that some of those things are changing. Over the last two years, Sunday Mass attendance across the diocese has increased by about 1,300 to 1,500 people. Lay movements and prayer groups are taking hold in people’s lives in a way that I think is incredible. You know, I went for lunch the other day at PeeWee’s for the first time. People kept coming to me and saying what a very Catholic place it is, that on Saturday morning there’s 70 men in the back, they call it a chapel, here in this restaurant bar. When Jesus says, “Be the leaven in society,” Pee-wee is being the leaven and God bless him for it. So, yes, we’ve seen a lot of regression over the last couple of decades, but let’s not get so stuck in that past data that we don’t see the signs of hopefulness and change that lie ahead of us.

I see young people who are on fire for their faith, and Christian initiation numbers have increased in recent years. I went to the SEEK conference with just 1000s of college students gathered there in Columbus, Ohio — young people who want to live for their faith. The first thing I would say is, yes, we’ve had a couple of difficult decades. Our culture has changed tremendously under our feet, but I think there’s good reason to think that people are beginning to realize some of the poverty in that, you know, and so I’m very hopeful about the future.

I think we remain hopeful, that we commit to the mission and to start thinking of ourselves as constantly being in formation, constantly seeking greater conversion, constantly seeking to be greater, more effective disciples of Jesus, and turn ourselves towards the needs of others. If you’re tempted to seek sink into despair, find someone who needs you and respond to their need, and it will save you from despair. Christ will save you from despair through that action.

Question: If you could speak to the person you were on the day you became bishop five years ago, what would you tell him now?

Bishop Iffert: I would say, enjoy the ride and work hard. I have shared the advice I got from a freshman football coach: head up, feet moving. That has been valuable advice. But I do not know if I would lecture the me from five years ago. I came into this role with eyes open. If anything, I would say, stay closer to Christ. Remember to gaze on the Cross. Remember the Jesus prayer: — “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner” — and use it all the time. When I stay focused on Christ and his Spirit, everything is protected. When I fail to do that, I may assert myself more than I want to.

Question: What has been the most difficult challenge you have faced, and what have you learned about dealing with challenges?

Bishop Iffert: There are always going to be challenges. When I am at my best, I keep faith in Christ, listen to others and take a stance of humility. Ordination does not mean I always possess the right answer. When I enter into deliberation both with my coworkers in the vineyard, and accept the guidance that comes in prayer, that’s when I’m at my best. The challenge comes when I let myself get in the way, invest in my own pride or take misunderstanding personally. That is a spiritual journey on my end. Being consultative does not mean ceding decision making to others. Decision making is something we do together; decision taking is something a pastor or bishop must do. At some point, I have to take the risk and responsibility for a decision. The hardest thing about being a bishop is having that responsibility and not always being free, or able, to explain myself in a way others can understand.

Question: Is there anything else you want to say as you celebrate your fifth anniversary as bishop?

Bishop Iffert: Thank you for five beautiful years. I love this Church, I love the people of this Church, and I am very grateful for the way I have been received.

 

Student Council leaves St. Paul School a cool gift

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Laura Keener

Editor

Students, families and parish members gathered after Mass, Aug. 23, at St. Paul School, Florence, for the blessing and dedication of a new outdoor classroom and shade structure.

Father Jason Bertke, pastor, St. Paul Parish, blessed the space, which will give students a cooler place to play and a fresh spot to learn outside.

The idea came from the 2025-2026 Student Council, a group made up of eighth-grade girls, who noticed a simple problem during recess — it was hot. Very hot.

Anna Hanson, a member of Student Council, said the playground area needed shade. “I love to hang out at the playset, but it is very hot,” Miss Hanson said. “In middle school, we actually wear navy shirts, which attracts sun, and so we were very hot.”

Miss Hanson brought the idea to Student Council president, Mallorie Schlueter, and the two helped move the project forward.

“She immediately came and helped me,” Miss Hanson said. “Together, we worked on some multiple ideas, and we made different phases. Our first phase was the awning, and our second phase was the seating.”

The girls then got busy raising money.

Miss Schlueter said one fundraiser offered babysitting for younger students. “We had babysitting services where kids could come in for about $10, and then that’s how we raised the money,” she said.

The Council also hosted a Ghoul Pull lollipop pull during the school’s annual haunted house, held during school hours for students around Halloween. Along with those efforts, Miss Schlueter said donors helped make the project possible.

“With our incredible donors, we thank them so much, that’s how this happened, really,” she said.

Karen Poulos, moderator for the Student Council, said the students were clear about what they needed — shade. The students even studied the sun and shade during the year so the structure would be in the right place. “When we were fundraising, we’d look at where the shade was, where it needed to be, so that we would have a good structure that they could utilize the area,” she said.

The finished project turned into more than a play area. Mrs. Poulos said an outdoor classroom had been on the school’s wish list for about three years, but earlier plans were too expensive. When the Student Council’s shade project came together, it created a space that could serve two purposes. “Now it kind of does a dual thing where we can have classes out here, and they have shade,” Mrs. Poulos said.

During the dedication, Mrs. Poulos thanked the Student Council, school families, parish community, staff and donors, especially the Bolin and Kramer families. “This project began with students who saw a need and wanted to make a difference in their school,” she said. “Through their fundraising efforts and dedication, they helped turn an idea into something that will benefit students for years to come.” She added, “Every contribution, whether large or small, helped bring us closer to this day.”

The students who worked so hard on the project have now matriculated to high school for the 2026-2027 school year and no longer attend school at St. Paul. They will not get to use the shaded classroom every day. Still, Miss Hanson said that was all right.

“It’s really nice to know that kids will be able to stay cool and learn outside,” she said. “Really, it’s just about bringing them joy, and I’m very glad that I get to bring them joy in the years to come.”

In her closing remarks, Mrs. Poulos said, the new space is meant to be “filled with learning, laughter, friendship, and countless wonderful memories for many years to come.”

 

We are ‘cells in the Body of Christ,’ Bishop Iffert tells ministries, community members at DPAA celebration

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Maura Baker

Staff Writer

People of the diocese and surrounding community came together, Aug. 20, for a celebration and recognition reception in honor of the 2026 Diocesan Parish Annual Appeal, or DPAA. Joining them was Bishop John Iffert, Jim Hess, director, Stewardship and Mission Services and Dr. Greg Salzman, the 2026 DPAA Leadership Gifts Chair.

As part of the evening, grants through the DPAA were distributed to different faculties and ministries within the diocesan community. DPAA grants totaling $275,000 were given out to diocesan and local organizations who serve the community for needs such as staff, repairs, operating expenses and facility improvements. (For a full list of grants dispersed through the 2026 DPAA, see page #.)

The theme of the 2026 DPAA is “Live as Children of Light.” Jim Hess, addressing the guests gathered for the reception, called back to this theme. “This room is so full of the light of Christ,” he said. “… When you think about the amount of people that each of our ministries impact individually, and then the cumulative efforts of all the ministries that are in this room right now — it’s outstanding. It’s amazing.”

The DPAA sets aside 10 percent of its total funding each year for these community grants. In 2026, the DPAA goal was $2.75 million, resulting in the $275,000 given in grants that evening.

“That’s a commitment that the diocese made,” Mr. Hess said, “10 percent of what the faithful will donate to our DPAA goes back out to support your beautiful ministries.”

Dr. Greg Salzman spoke also to guests, saying, “It’s exciting to be able to tell everyone how well the Lord has blessed us.”

Dr. Salzman shared the success of this year’s DPAA, stating that the diocese is doing “much better than expected” compared to results this time last year — with a rising number of donors compared to a falling number over the past few years.

Dr. Salzman additionally noted that 36 diocesan parishes have met or exceeded their 2026 DPAA monetary goal. Money raised over the goal is given back to the parishes for their needs. However, donor participation goals are still underway — with seven parishes having met this secondary goal and 31 parishes 20 participants or less away.

After dispersing the grants to the different organizations gathered, Bishop Iffert spoke also to those gathered. “It’s a wonderful thing,” he said. “It’s such a nice evening to be here and to be able to give these little gifts to so many different groups and ministries.”

“All this is made possible by all of our neighbors,” Bishop Iffert said. “By you and all of our neighbors who contribute for the support of the Church and who allow the Church to support others … Our diocesan Church is not something separate from our experience in our parishes — but our experiences in our parishes, and our local schools, and our local agencies and our associations combine to make our world. They are cells in the Body of Christ here in this region.”

Bishop Iffert concluded, thanking ministries by saying, “Thank you all very much for what you’re doing to be the Body of Christ to others.”

At the end of the evening, Dr. Greg Salzman was given a gift on behalf of the diocese for his service as Leadership Gifts Chair. Dr. Salzman will continue his work in the 2027 DPAA as General Chair.

‘ACUE Taskforce’ gathers in support of urban schools

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Staff Report

Fifteen individuals designated for an “ACUE Taskforce” met at the diocesan Curia, Covington, Aug. 31, for their first meeting. The Taskforce is engaging in a “90-day sprint” to identify the strengths and weaknesses within the schools under the jurisdiction Alliance for Catholic Urban Education (ACUE) for strategic planning. Members of the taskforce include five priests, a woman religious and lay people involved in ACUE schools. This same group visited the ACUE schools the previous Friday, Aug. 28, including having lunch with students and Bishop John Iffert at St. Anthony School, Taylor Mill.

The ACUE Taskforce was formed as a result of the Schools Commission — who recognized a specific need for targeted planning for ACUE schools.

“Marketing and communications,” according to Deacon Jim Fortner, COO, prove to be the greatest challenge faced by ACUE schools and diocesan schools at large, with enrollment in ACUE schools having dropped by 60 percent since 2003. The ACUE Taskforce aims to identify and begin planning solutions to this and any other arising needs within the schools.

SEPI workshop ‘first step’ in developing ministry for Hispanic children in Diocese of Covington

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Multimedia Correspondent

Staff Writer

“Once a person, no matter the age, develops a relationship to God — that will stay with them for the rest of their life.” This is the belief of Silvia Schmidt, diocesan Hispanic minister, and one of the core motivations for the Hispanic Ministry Office’s collaboration with SEPI (Southeast Pastoral Institute) — with the goal of catechizing both the children in Hispanic communities within the Diocese of Covington, and the catechists that interact with them, as well.

The “first step” in this developmental journey happened Aug. 28–30, with a set of SEPI workshops aimed at catechists from the five parishes in the diocese with notable Hispanic populations. These workshops provided information on developing “inculturated prayer and workshop experiences” for Hispanic children, developing their relationship to God and involvement in the Church, and included a live demonstration of prayer with children from St. Anthony Parish, Taylor Mill — which hosts a large population of Guatemalan parishioners.

The goal of the diocese’s involvement with his programming is an act of “killing two birds with one stone,” according to Mrs. Schmidt. “I believe in forming the adults, so that they can form the children.” In this way, the programming tackles both adults and youth in the communities — with hopes that better formation among adults will carry to children.

Community building is also an important aspect of the workshop, as representatives from different parishes come from different cultural backgrounds — Mexican, Guatemalan, Honduran, etc. — all came together from their different parishes and engaged with one another through the workshops.

“For me, it’s the beginning of something bigger,” Mrs. Schmidt said. “To bring all the Hispanic parishes together, so that we can work as a team in the future for other projects … I’m very happy and very excited. I know there will be challenges, but everything went well.”

St. Therese’s new pastor seeks to be spiritual shepherd in the way of Christ

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Bella Bailey

Multimedia Correspondent

Father Michael Grady was installed as pastor of St. Therese Parish, Southgate, through the Rite of Pastor Installation, Aug. 23, during Mass celebrated by Bishop John Iffert. Father Grady has served St. Therese Parish since 2022 in the capacity of pastoral administrator, and was elevated to the status of pastor, July 14. The new role offers Father Grady and the parishioners of St. Therese Parish a renewed sense of stability and confidence, said Father Grady.

“My job hasn’t really changed that much,” he said. “I think it’s the way the parishioners see me now has a different role. I think the parishioners see it more as a permanent role in the parish, they’ve been very excited about the whole thing.”

During his homily, Bishop Iffert likened the difference between a pastoral administrator and pastor to that of a hired hand and a shepherd.

“A person who is a pastor participates in the shepherding of the flock in a very personal, and in a stable way,” said Bishop Iffert. “From my perspective, from a bishop’s perspective, once a person becomes a pastor one of their rights is to serve in stability and wellness.”

Father Grady is now imbued with certain canonical rights as pastor, such as the right to baptize all babies of the parish, the right to marry all who wish to marry at the parish, and the responsibility to form religious vocations and invigorate the youth of the parish.

“It’s very heartening knowing that I can continue to minister to them [parishioners],” said Father Grady. “One important thing for me, for them to know, about the role of pastor is I’m just trying to walk in the shoes of the Good Shepherd, Jesus. I’m just trying to pastor the way he would pastor.”

The role of pastor is to shepherd his spiritual flock, fashioned in the way of Jesus.

“Not that Father Grady is Jesus,” said Bishop Iffert, clarifying to a chuckling congregation of St. Therese parishioners, “but that Jesus uses Father Grady to make himself known and present. If that role were missing, if that role were absent, if that role were unfilled, we would be like … sheep without a shepherd.”

“The good shepherd is working through me,” said Father Grady. “I just want to do what he wants me to do.”

The NCC Thoroughbreds are home with the opening of the Ciafardini Family Athletic Complex

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Bella Bailey

Multimedia Correspondent

The Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds finally have a place to call home with the opening of the Ciafardini Family Athletic Complex, NCC’s new multi-million-dollar, state-of-the-art football, soccer and track facility. For decades, the football team has been nomadic, traveling from field to field to compete and play under the Friday night lights.

Now, they get to play under their own lights, on a field with NCC gold and blue, in front of a home crowd. The Thoroughbreds opened their season, Aug. 21, in just that way, in front of a crowd of over 1,500 spectators made up of students, families and alumni, with an energy that was hardly contained in the stands.

Bishop John Iffert was present to offer a prayer for the safety of both teams ahead of the competition, and that they play and represent themselves the way that God calls them to. This message is one that the players of the Newport Central Catholic team are familiar with, said principal Kenny Collopy.

“That’s really what it’s all about, is bringing everybody together, and ultimately that’s what God calls us to do — love each other and be there for each other. We call NCC a family, and that was evident on Friday night,” Mr. Collopy said.

Newport Central Catholic’s mission rests upon five pillars — faith, family, academics, community stewardship and character development — and the new complex supports “all of those things,” said Mr. Collopy.

“I always say we’re trying to maximize the opportunity for our students to get to heaven, and I truly believe that athletics in a field are a great way to learn some of the harder lessons in life, build resiliency, and become the best version of yourself, which is what God calls us to do,” he said.

Senior team captains, Van and Noah, agreed with Mr. Collopy.

“It’s just like everything we do here at NewCath, we’re all a family, we follow every rule, we just do everything to the best of our ability,” said Van.

“It just represents the community,” said Noah about the new complex. “It wouldn’t have been possible without all the donors and all the community that helped make it happen. I think that just shows what NewCath does for people even after they leave.”

A fact made even more evident by the number of volunteers who came to ensure the opening night’s success.

“Dozens of volunteers came to help out with parking, concessions, ticket taking,” said Mr. Collopy, “…many hands make light work, and that’s what really made it such a successful night was everybody coming together.”

“The best part for me,” he said, “was seeing the students on the field and in the stands … to see them out there finally was extremely fulfilling.”

Noah said, “I’ve never seen a student section that big … it was really fun, it was a really good atmosphere.”

After a year of construction and patiently waiting, Van said that being able to play a home game was “an awesome feeling. Looking up in the stands and seeing all those alumni, seeing our parents, all the fans, students. It was just an awesome feeling.”

Hands that touched the Cathedral — Trisco craftsmen reflect on restoring the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption for another century

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Laura Keener and Maura Baker

Editor and Staff Writer

High above the streets of Covington, in the hidden upper spaces of the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, the building keeps a quiet record of the people who built it. Brian Walter has seen it there: initials and dates carved or written by workers who climbed into the attic-like spaces generations ago, men whose names are otherwise lost but whose hands helped shape the cathedral.

“What’s interesting up in the top, up in the attic space, way up in the top, is you see a lot of initials and dates of guys that have been there, either worked on it or were there for some reason,” Mr. Walter said. “You see like, you know, JLV were his initials, and then the date. That guy was up there almost 100 years ago. He’s been dead for years and years and years. Nobody knows who that guy was or anything, but his fingers touched that building and did something there.”

That thought stayed with Mr. Walter as Trisco Systems worked through the most recent restoration of the cathedral. For Mr. Walter, Trisco’s owner, and Rob Davis, one of the company’s veteran craftsmen, the project was never simply a construction job. It was a continuation of a century-old chain of labor, skill and responsibility. The original builders left behind a sacred landmark. The Trisco team’s task was to make sure it could stand for another century.

“Just like we’re going to be faceless, nameless people someday, too, that touched that building as well,” Mr. Walter said. “But the building will still stand long after us. And I guess it’s our duty to pay respect to those guys that built that building and that have worked on that building, that we do our best so it’s here 100 years from now.”

Trisco had history with the cathedral before this restoration began. Mr. Walter served as project manager on an earlier phase in 2001, when exterior work accompanied a larger interior renovation. At that time, he said, Trisco cleaned the building, performed tuckpointing, addressed window caulking and focused on urgent exterior problems, including chimeras that had been damaged, deteriorated or even knocked loose.

“The focus was keeping the water out, life safety issues,” Mr. Walter said of the earlier work. “We didn’t want stones falling on the street, falling on the sidewalks or over the public areas. We were just trying to buy you some more time before a bigger project could be done.”

The 2001 work did buy time. The chimeras were patched with terracotta materials, pinned, epoxied, glazed and returned to their places. But Mr. Walter knew even then that some elements eventually would need full replacement. “We got a few more years out of them. And now this project here turned into replacement of all of the chimeras, and that was very, very necessary,” he said.

When the more recent project began, Mr. Walter was not managing its day-to-day work. Todd Zapp, Trisco’s original project manager for the restoration, led that effort with Mr. Davis and Tim Purdy. Mr. Walter had shared what he remembered from the earlier phase, but Mr. Zapp, Mr. Davis and Mr. Purdy carried the new scope from the beginning.

From the ground, Mr. Davis’ first reaction was awe. “When I first pulled up on the job site, first thing I could say is, wow, what a beautiful building,” he said. “First time I’d ever seen it. It became a very interesting project. We knew our regular scope of work, which was a big job, but it wasn’t as big as it ended up being.”

That changed once the team began inspecting the cathedral up close. “Once Todd and I got up there and started inspecting things, we realized that things were in worse shape than what they originally thought,” Mr. Davis said. “At that point, obviously the job grew. And the things that we had to do was a little more involved than we anticipated. So that’s why it took the time and obviously the money.”

Mr. Walter said that kind of discovery is common in restoration work. Drawings, estimates and scopes of work can only reveal so much. “A lot of those things you can’t really blame anybody for,” he said. “It’s what you find when you actually get your nose up on the work.”

Much of the public attention centered on the cathedral’s chimeras and gargoyles, the dramatic figures that can be seen from below. Those were important, but Mr. Walter and Mr. Davis emphasized that some of the most complex and significant work involved the stone tracery: the columns and arching stonework around the upper portions of the building.

“All those arch stones that come together and land on top of the columns, those are the tracery. We replaced all of those stones, all of those columns,” said Mr. Walter. “That’s the really severe deterioration that we noticed when we first started the project. Everybody sees the chimeras and the gargoyles and is happy with those, but everything in between all that got replaced as well.”

For Mr. Davis, the tracery was both the most difficult and most critical part of the project. “That was like putting the puzzle back together,” he said. “When you took that apart, you had to put it back. It had to be precise. A quarter inch off when you first start, you could be an inch off when you’re on the right side when you’re done. So, it had to be exact.”

The work demanded planning long before stones were moved. Mr. Davis recalled “a lot of nights of Todd Zapp and I on the phone, sleepless nights, wondering how we’re going to do this and the best way we could do this and the safest way to do it.”

Some of the deterioration came from the very materials that originally held the cathedral together. Mr. Walter explained that buildings of the cathedral’s era commonly relied on carbon steel pins, fasteners and structural elements. Over time, that steel rusts. As it corrodes, it expands, placing pressure on the surrounding limestone until the stone cracks or breaks.

“Most all of the problems with the stone deterioration were caused by the carbon steel fasteners, hidden fasteners, pins and those types of things that are holding things up,” Mr. Walter said. “They were rusting and corroding and no longer able to do their job. So, when we put new stone in, we put new stainless-steel pins, stainless steel fasteners, stainless steel structural elements that will last indefinitely.”

Mr. Davis said many people asked what was causing the stone to fail. “The old pins that they used, like Brian was saying, when they rust, they swell,” he said. “At that point, your limestone is your weakest point, and that’s why it’s going to bust. And that’s what caused that. And there was a lot of it.”

Mr. Walter summed up the approach this way: “We put it back not the way it was, but better than the way it was.”

The restoration also highlighted how much construction technology has changed since the cathedral was first built. Historic photographs show horses, wagons, ropes and wooden derricks used to lift stone into place. Mr. Davis joked he was glad the modern crew did not have to rely on horse and buggy. “I felt like I was the horse sometimes,” he said.

Mr. Walter describes the contrast plainly. “If you see those old photographs, that’s how they got the stone up there,” he said. “They had these derricks made out of wood with pulleys on the top and used ropes to pull the stone up. And the horses were pulling on the ropes to pull the stone up to the top. And the way we do it now is we call the crane guy. In 10 minutes, he lifts those heavy stones right to the top.”

The team relied on cranes, boom lifts, scaffolding and a monorail system that helped raise and position stones around the building. Mr. Davis describes the monorail as “an electric motor with a cable that you hook the stone to, to take them out and put them back in.” Mr. Walter said it was essentially an I-beam system running horizontally near the top of the building, assembled and moved by the scaffolding contractor as work progressed.

Even with modern equipment, the work could be tense. Mr. Davis often worked from the ground manning a rope tied to heavy stone being lifted, keeping it away from the building so it would not scuff the masonry as it rose. Asked if he wore two hard hats for that work, he answered, “Probably should have, but I didn’t.”

Still, the heart of the work remained the human eye and hand. “That’s where you rely on Rob and his guys,” Mr. Walter said. “They are master craftsmen. You can say all you want, you can show him a drawing, but it takes the guy and his eye to get it on the wall.”

For Mr. Davis, successful restoration is measured partly by whether anyone can tell where the new work begins.

“Once we left there, the best way to say it is, you can’t tell we’ve even been there,” he said. “That’s key to me, that none of our work stood out. You want everything to look like you haven’t been there. And that’s even the new stone, everything blended in as well with washing everything down. So nothing really stood out. And that’s the key to restoration, making everything look like you haven’t been there, make the whole building look beautiful again.”

Mr. Walter said some of the finest work on the project is nearly invisible to most visitors. On the roof are inner areas and courtyards few people will ever see. There, hidden from the street, are more traceries, stone columns sitting on the roof and copper flashing and caps worked carefully into place.

“You’ll never, nobody will ever see that stuff,” Mr. Walter said. “And it’s the most beautiful work. It should be on the front down low so people can see it, but nobody will. And what you get with us and what you get with master craftsmen like Rob and his guys is you get perfection 150 feet in the air, the same perfection as you get 10 feet in the air. I’m really proud of that. I’m really proud of the work we did.”

Both Mr. Walter and Mr. Davis said the cathedral project felt different because it was deeply collaborative. Mr. Walter said some projects are driven by architects or engineers who tell contractors what to do without drawing on their experience. This restoration, he said, was not like that. It was a team effort among the architect, cathedral staff, Father Ryan Maher, Don Knochelmann and others working for the good of the building and the community.

“What I don’t always get, and I got definitely on this one, is the pride of the congregation, the pride of the people of not only the Catholic community, but also the city of Covington,” Mr. Walter said. “They’re so proud of that church. Every time I was there, I would get a thank you from somebody, some guy just walking by. The staff is just so grateful and so appreciative of the work that we were doing. And that motivates you to want to do better.”

Mr. Davis agreed. “Just knowing how much that cathedral means to so many people, it grabs us too,” he said. After returning for the celebration of the completed work, Mr. Davis said he felt “pretty proud” of the whole Trisco team.

The cathedral also reached them personally. Mr. Walter, who grew up Catholic, said time in the cathedral — especially returning with his wife for Mass — reminded him of the power of sacred space. “People say that it’s a special place and people say that it’s a spiritual place and that it moves you when you see the light coming through those stained-glass windows,” he said. “And you’re like, yeah, yeah, yeah. But when you’re there, it’s absolutely true. That place is beautiful. It’s special. It puts you in a completely different frame of mind for that hour that you’re at Mass.”

Mr. Davis said the people at the cathedral made him feel welcome from the beginning. “Everybody’s there for a purpose, and it’s a good purpose,” he said. “Everybody’s there for each other. Trisco worked with them, as well as them working with us, and it worked out for everybody. So, in more ways than one, it really touched me deep.”

The project also drew unusual media attention. Mr. Walter said Trisco’s work often receives local notice in communities where the company works, but the cathedral restoration traveled much farther after being picked up by the Associated Press.

“When the AP picked it up, I can’t think of the time that’s ever happened to us before,” Mr. Walter said. “I have a friend that lives in Las Vegas that it was in front of the Las Vegas newspaper. I had a buddy in Chicago that recorded it on Fox News Headline News. He was like, ‘Oh my God, is this you?’ It was all over the country. It was international, not even just the country, when the AP picked it up.”

Mr. Walter admitted the interviews pushed him out of his comfort zone. “Way out of my comfort zone,” he said. He tried to persuade Mr. Davis to do more of the interviews, but Mr. Davis had a simple answer: “I was busy.” In the end, Mr. Walter said, “Somebody had to. I’m glad it ended up happening.”

Throughout the restoration, Mr. Davis said the team had a phrase for what they hoped to achieve: “the 100-year fix.” It was not only about repairing broken stone. It was about honoring the original craftsmen, safeguarding the cathedral for those who worship there now and handing it forward to people who will never know the names of the workers who made it safe and beautiful again.

“That was our saying during the whole project,” Mr. Davis said. “Another 100 years is what everybody wanted. That was the goal.”

In the hidden upper reaches of the cathedral, the initials from 100 years ago remain as a reminder that every generation receives the building from someone else. Now Mr. Walter, Mr. Davis, Mr. Zapp and the Trisco team have added their DNA, even if most of their work is meant to disappear into the whole. Their names may not be visible from the pews or the sidewalk, but their labor is part of the cathedral’s ongoing story — more sets of hands that touched the building so it can continue lifting the eyes and hearts of Covington to God — the Master Creator — for years to come.

Trisco project manager instrumental to Cathedral project, remembered for his dedication and friendship

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Laura Keener and Maura Baker

Editor and Staff Writer

In the Cathedral garden is a memorial stone bearing the name Todd Zapp. The inscription reads: “Todd Zapp of Trisco Systems Inc., for his dedication and leadership during the restoration of the Basilica completed in 2026.”

No account of the 2023–2026 restoration of the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, Covington, is complete without Mr. Zapp, the Trisco project manager who helped launch and guide the work before his death in May 2025.

His obituary published on Legacy.com noted that Todd was born on Oct. 27, 1963, in Lima, Ohio, to Frederick W. Zapp Jr. and Roberta (Kersker) Zapp, who preceded him in death. On Oct. 15, 1988, he married the love of his life, Teresa G. Zapp, who preceded him in death on Sept. 13, 2019. The couple had two daughters who blessed them with eight grandchildren.

Brian Walter, owner of Trisco, had known Mr. Zapp for about 45 years. They went to high school together, and Mr. Zapp later joined Mr. Walter’s family business, beginning as a laborer and steadily working his way through the ranks.

“Todd started out as the lowest guy on the totem pole,” Mr. Walter said. “He was a laborer and showed a great aptitude for work. He liked to work. He liked to work hard. And he was smarter than most.”

Mr. Walter later made Mr. Zapp a foreman and eventually brought him into the office. Mr. Zapp had worked in the warehouse, in the field, in the office and as a foreman, so he understood each part of the company and the people doing the work. He also became Trisco’s safety director because of his concern for protecting workers, Mr. Walter said.

“Todd was the first guy in, the last guy out,” Mr. Walter said. “Rob would start at 6 in the morning and Todd’s truck was there, and we’re two and a half hours away from Covington. Todd left the house at 3:30 or 4:00 a.m. to make sure he spent the full day with Rob.”

Rob Davis is the foreman of the project who assumed lead of the Cathedral restoration project and the other duties Mr. Zapp tended. Mr. Davis said Mr. Zapp was “more committed and dedicated to every project he was on,” and that the long phone calls that they had trying to determine the best way to replace the Cathedral’s tracery were typical of the way he worked.

“Todd and I would make phone calls when we found out about the traceries,” Mr. Davis said. “We’d be on the phone two hours at night talking about it, trying to figure out the best and safest way to do it. I give him all the credit in the world. Most of the ideas that we used and did were his. He was the biggest part of that.”

When Mr. Zapp died, Mr. Walter said the project was about one-third complete, with roughly two-thirds still to go. But the hardest planning had been done. “Todd built the plane, he flew the plane, he got it up in the air,” Mr. Walter said. “All I had to do was land it.”

Mr. Walter was quick to add that the landing depended on Mr. Davis. “We could not have done this without Rob,” he said. “I took over the management part of this project, but Rob took over the details. They came up with these ideas together, and Rob was able to implement them.”

For Mr. Davis, Mr. Zapp was more than a colleague. “He wasn’t just a coworker he was a very good friend, and deeply missed,” he said.

In his obituary, his family affirmed that Mr. Zapp was more than a colleague to Trisco workers, he was a beloved father and grandfather who “was extremely giving and generous. In his downtime, he enjoyed corrupting his grandchildren, playing golf, and mowing the lawn.”

This exceptional man will always be remembered in gratitude by the people of the Diocese of Covington and the millions of visitors to Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption.

In his closing remarks vigil Mass, Aug. 15, at the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, celebrating the completion of the restoration project, Bishop John Iffert said, “Todd Zapp … provided tremendous leadership, expertise and dedication to this project … He was deeply committed to the restoration of this cathedral and gave generously of himself to this work … we are profoundly grateful for all that he contributed, and we hold him in memory and in prayer.”

Restored in Christ: managing the scope and funding of the Diocese’s largest restoration project

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Laura Keener

Editor

Covington’s Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption has long been one of the Diocese of Covington’s greatest treasures. But after more than 100 years of wind, rain, freezing and thawing, parts of the stone and terra cotta exterior needed serious repair. Through the Restored in Christ project, the diocese has completed a large restoration meant to keep visitors safe and preserve the beloved landmark for future generations.

Don Knochelmann, diocesan director of Buildings and Properties who helped oversee the work, said the problems began to stand out around 2019 and early 2020.

“We really started to see more pieces of stone fall off,” Mr. Knochelmann said. “We’d find pieces on the ground, or things would have to be strapped together.” That led to a close study of the building. SHP Architects used a 3D scan of the cathedral, then inspected the exterior up close from a crane basket over several days.

What they found showed the project would be much larger than first expected. Mr. Knochelmann said the team found “severe cracks in the gargoyles and chimera,” along with “spalled stone, cracked stone pieces of the terracotta capitals,” and limestone that was “falling apart due to the freeze and thaw conditions in this part of the country.” He said he did not know of any exterior restoration this extensive in the cathedral’s history.

The work was wide in scope. All 26 chimera and all 32 gargoyles were replaced with exact replicas. The old pieces were scanned and sent to Boston Valley Terra Cotta in New York so new hollow terra cotta pieces could be made with vents and weep holes for drainage. Dozens of limestone columns were replaced, along with colonnade pieces, copper flashing and much of the tracery.

Mr. Knochelmann said the team first thought about 10 percent of the tracery would need replacement, but once workers got started, they found rusted steel pins and deeper damage. “Once we started cutting into it, we had to replace more and more,” he said.

Trisco Systems performed the masonry restoration, while Imbus Roofing handled copper work, flashing and detailed copper repairs. Mr. Knochelmann praised Trisco’s field and office teams, saying they were “extraordinarily helpful” as unexpected problems appeared. “They were really part of the team,” he said. “They wanted to be here. They wanted to have their name on such a highly visible, just a very well-known building.”

The project also grew in cost. Jim Hess, director of Stewardship and Mission for the Diocese of Covington, said the restoration began as a $6 million project and ended up around $8 million.

“Anybody who owns an old building knows once you begin work and you start taking out bricks or you start taking down tiles, inevitably there’s more damage than you initially thought,” Mr. Hess said.

He said the original plan included about a half million dollars for expected overages, but “the true overage far exceeded that” by about $2 million.

Mr. Hess said some stones that were first marked for repair had to be replaced by the time workers reached them. And once a stone marked for replacement was removed, it was discovered that adjacent stones would also need replacing.

“Sometimes you thought you were replacing one stone, and you’re actually repairing or replacing three,” he said. The same was true for some of the terra cotta figures. “Some of the chimera initially, we thought we could repair,” Mr. Hess said. “But it became evident that we had to replace all of them.”

Funding came from three main sources. Mr. Hess said those were “a diocesan-wide public campaign,” “the Cathedral Parish’s parish campaign,” and tax credits through the Kentucky Heritage Council. Because the cathedral is a national historic landmark, the diocese could apply for historic tax credits and then sell them to a local bank. Mr. Hess said that resulted in “a little over a million dollars for the campaign.”

The Cathedral Parish campaign raised about $1.3 million, according to Mr. Hess, who said the parish effort was “very successful.” A planning committee recruited volunteers who met with donors and asked them to consider gifts. “The cathedral parish itself did all it could as a cathedral parish to contribute to this campaign,” Mr. Hess said.

The rest came from the wider public campaign, including generous gifts from nearly 2,000 donors. Mr. Hess said important grants also came from the St. Elizabeth Foundation, the R.C. Durr Foundation and the Butler Foundation. Their support, along with gifts from people across the diocese and beyond, helped make the project possible.

Bishop John Iffert also played an important role by supporting the team as the scope grew. Mr. Knochelmann said, “Bishop was awesome throughout this entire project.” When the team showed new damage and explained the need for added work, Mr. Knochelmann said the bishop’s response was clear: “We need to find a way to do it.” That cooperation helped the project move forward, even as costs rose.

For Mr. Hess, the campaign renewed interest in the cathedral, not just historically but also theologically. He said it gave Bishop Iffert and the priests of the diocese an opportunity to explain that the cathedral is not just one parish, but “the Mother Church of the diocese.” He added, “We’re all parishioners of the cathedral.”

For Mr. Knochelmann, the finished work is a gift to the future.

“The end result is a building that should give us another 100 plus years,” he said. He also called the cathedral “by far the most beautiful cathedral I’ve been to.” Being part of the team, he said, is something he will “look back on fondly.”

As work on the Restored in Christ restoration project ends, there is still time to financially contribute to the project. According to Mr. Hess donations are needed to close a $300k funding gap. Make a donation and add your name to the already nearly 2,000 donors at covdio.org/give and click on “Make a Gift” to Restored in Christ.