Events to mark the 200th anniversary of the Archdiocese of Louisville — which begins officially in 2008 — already are underway. St. Patrick Church in Eastwood and others in Region IX launched the celebration with the first major event recently, a Generations of Faith-style gathering that focused on the early days of the Archdiocese of Louisville — then the Bardstown Diocese.

They heard stories from “Papa Tom,” a character played by Tom Morton representing the diocese’s first settlers, about what life was like for those early Catholics.

The event was the first of many being planned to mark the Archdiocese of Louisville’s bicentennial. The bicentennial events are among archdiocesan programs, ministries and services assisted by the sannual Catholic Services Appeal.

A special committee on formation has planned four events —similar to the one at St. Patrick — to be held in the parishes or regions of the archdiocese between now and the fall of 2008.
They will focus on themes taken from the order of Mass: beginning, remembering, celebrating and missioning.

Sue Brodfehrer, who leads the archdiocesan committee that planned the four formation events, said more churches will be holding their own “beginnings” events in the coming months. The committee has planned an outline for the events, but churches are encouraged to be creative — as St. Patrick was — in their planning.

The St. Patrick event drew about 250 people who quickly became absorbed in Morton’s stories of those early settlers who came to the wilds of Central Kentucky. The Bardstown Diocese stretched from the southern border of Tennessee to the Great Lakes and from the Mississippi River to the Allegheny Mountains.

Papa Tom’s story began in October of 1795 when he set out on a flat boat on the Ohio River. After six or seven days, Morton said, he and his fellow travelers arrived in Limestone, Ky., now Maysville. When they reached the town, a handful of Catholic families who “hadn’t seen a priest in a long time” welcomed them into their homes for the night.

Morton, who is coordinator of religious education at St. Jerome Church in Fairdale, said that after another short journey Papa Tom and the settlers finally arrived in Bardstown, “and I claimed my farm.”

“It turned out to be a good place to live,” he said, noting that hunting was always productive with the abundance of squirrels and rabbits.

As more and more families came to the area, they learned to help one another.

“We helped with building, farming, clothes-making,” he said. “We worked together a lot. And it’s hard.”

They also helped keep their Catholic traditions alive, as priests were scarce. They had fun, too, with picnics and dances. However, Morton said, Fathers Stephen Badin and Charles Nerinckx, among of the diocese’s first priests, “didn’t like that dancin’. No sir.”

After his presentation, Morton led the adults in a discussion about what Catholics today can learn about living their faith from the early settlers. During the discussion, children made models of flatboats, and the teens took part in creating a play to show the differences and similarities of life for modern Catholics and their predecessors.

Brodfehrer, director of the Catholic Family Center, said that like St. Patrick, parishes planning such events “will make it fit who they are as a parish or a cluster or a region. We tried to make it as hands-on practical as possible. You come together to share a meal and prayer. You have a whole-group learning experience,” and then break-out sessions for age-appropriate activities.

She hopes that people take away from these events a stronger sense of who they are as Catholics today.

“It helps us look at ourselves and our many blessings,” she noted. “To build on what it is we as Catholics believe in, what our story is.”

The committee also created home kits for the sick or shut-ins to take part in the process.

While the first event focuses on the beginnings of the archdiocese, the second event turns to “remembering” the history of the diocese with all its “hurts” made by or against the church, Brodfehrer said. Some of the events that will be discussed include Bloody Monday, when Irish Catholics were attacked by an anti-immigrant political group; slavery; the cholera epidemics and the sexual abuse crisis. Forgiveness and reconciliation will be explored during these events.

The third event, to focus on celebration, will explore the Eucharist. And the final event is on missioning.

As a result of these programs, “I hope that we have a renewed sense of pride in who we are,” Brodfehrer said. “I do believe that to know who we are, we need to know our history. It sends us forward in mission to spread hope and the good news.”