If you look at any historical timeline for the year 1808, the date of April 8 is likely to be listed.

The significance of this date 200 years ago is that it marked a major development in the expansion of the Catholic Church in the then-young United States.

On April 8, 1808, Pope Pius VII established four new U.S. dioceses in Boston, New York, Philadelphia — and Bardstown, Ky. Until that time, the Diocese of Baltimore — the nation’s first Catholic diocese — covered most of the country, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River and from Canada to Florida.

At the time of its establishment, the Bardstown Diocese — the forerunner to the Archdiocese of Louisville — covered an expansive territory from the Great Lakes on the north, Tennessee on the south, the Mississippi River on the west and the Allegheny Mountains on the east. Over the years, 44 Catholic dioceses would be created from this area of the country.

The bicentennial foundation day for the nation’s first inland diocese will be celebrated as a “day of prayer” in the Louisville archdiocese next Tuesday, April 8. And the day will begin where the roots were planted in Bardstown two centuries ago.

Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz will preside at an 8:30 a.m. Mass April 8 at historic St. Thomas Church in Bardstown. The liturgy will be followed by a breakfast and a presentation by Gerald Thompson, a local genealogist and historian.

St. Thomas is known as the “Cradle of the Catholic Church in Kentucky.” And an 18th-century log house located next to the church stands as one monument to the beginnings of the Bardstown Diocese.

This structure — known as the Bishop Flaget Log House — has been restored, and it will be open on April 8. Bishop Benedict Joseph Flaget, the diocese’s first bishop, lived in the log house; the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth had their roots there; and the first seminarians of the new diocese studied there.

Father Steve Pohl, pastor of St. Thomas, said the house is a “symbol of the early period” of the Catholic church in Kentucky.

Other events also are scheduled on April 8:

* Archbishop Kurtz will celebrate a noon Mass at the Cathedral of the Assumption, 443 S. Fifth St.

* The Archdiocese of Louisville History Center, located across the street from the Cathedral in the Patterson Education Center at 424 S. Fifth St., will be open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

* A vespers service will be held at 7 p.m. at the Basilica of St. Joseph Proto-Cathedral in Bardstown. The service will be followed by a talk by Father Clyde Crews, Louisville archdiocesan historian and author of the book, An American Holy Land: A History of the Archdiocese of Louisville.

While the April 8 services and talks will celebrate the founding of the Louisville archdiocese, other bicentennial events are planned during the year.

Another event in April will be an April 20 papal Mass in Yankee Stadium during Pope Benedict XVI’s April 15-20 visit to the United States. Recognized at this Mass will be the four U.S. dioceses celebrating bicentennials this year (Louisville, Boston, New York and Philadelphia) as well as Baltimore, the original diocese that became the country’s first archdiocese on April 8, 1808.

About 650 people from the Louisville archdiocese, including representatives from all the regions and most of the parishes, will travel to New York for the Mass. Archbishop Kurtz and the archbishops of Baltimore, Boston, New York and Philadelphia will join Pope Benedict at the altar as principal concelebrants.

The archdiocese’s bicentennial also will be part of the annual Pegasus Parade on May 1 during Derby Week. Youth and youth ministers from the archdiocese will participate in the parade by being handlers of a large inflatable called “Kermit the Frog.”

Other bicentennial events are planned in June and early autumn.

On June 29, an archdiocesan-wide Mass and celebration will be held at Slugger Field in downtown Louisville. Mass will be at 2:30 p.m., and a concert will feature Patrick Hughes of Louisville and the group “America.”

Three “Celebrate the Sacred Music” concerts are planned in early June. Concerts will be held at 7 p.m. June 6 at St. Augustine Church in Lebanon, Ky.; 7:30 p.m. June 7 at the Cathedral of the Assumption in Louisville; and 2 p.m. June 8 at the Basilica of St. Joseph Proto-Cathedral in Bardstown.

And on Sept. 28, an outdoor Mass at 11:30 p.m. and picnic to follow are scheduled on the grounds in front of the Basilica of St. Joseph Proto-Cathedral. Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien of Baltimore will preside at the liturgy.