Catholicism in Kentucky: Father Stephen Theodore Badin

 

In the history of the early United States, religion plays a prominent role.  In many cases, this history is that of various Protestant denominations, including Methodists and Presbyterians.  However, Catholicism also played a vital role.  Catholics first came to America and settled in Maryland, a colony which Lord Baltimore, a Catholic, founded.  Maryland allowed religious freedom, to the benefit of Catholic immigrants to America.  This is of course, exempting French and Spanish Catholics in the colonies or territories of those nations in America, in which Catholics and Catholic clergy were numerous.  However, when it comes to Catholicism in the English colonies, Maryland is its center.  Baltimore became the first Catholic diocese in America and Father John Carroll, a former Jesuit priest, became her first bishop in 1789.[1] 

            As settlers expanded westward in the United States, many came to settle in Kentucky, which was initially a part of Virginia.  In his 1844 book, Sketches of the Early Catholic Missions of Kentucky, (located using the Sabin Americana database via Liberty University’s Jerry Falwell Library), M.J. Spalding and Father Stephen Theodore Badin recount the early history of Catholicism in the state.  In this blog post, the author will focus on the role which Father Badin, the first priest ordained in the United States, played.  Father Badin was a Frenchman, and entered the Seminary in Orleans, run by the Sulpicians; fleeing with all his fellow seminarians in July 1791in the face of the French Revolution, before travelling to the United States with Father Flaget (who would become the first Bishop of the diocese of Bardstown), and another priest.   Upon arriving in Baltimore in March, 1792, the French exiles presented themselves to Bishop Carroll, who ordained Badin as a priest on May 25^th, 1793.[2] Following his ordination, Father Badin spent time in study at Georgetown College, and in 1793, Bishop Carroll selected him to go to Kentucky as missionary.  When the good Bishop proposed this to Father Badin, he protested, citing his young age at 25, his inexperience, and his lack of familiarity with English.  Bishop Carroll proposed that both pray a novena to discern God’s will.  Upon the completion of this novena 9 days later, both men had the same mindset.  Bishop Carroll stated, “I lay no command; but I think it is the will of God that you should go.”[3] And so, out of obedience to God, and his bishop, Father Badin went, arriving in Kentucky in November, 1793.  Spalding relates the faith and tenacity of Father Badin, who rode a circuit throughout central Kentucky to tend to his flock; and Father Badin estimated he rode over 100,000 miles on horseback each year.[4]  Father Badin went to great lengths to catechize his flock, provide the Sacraments, and preach the truth everywhere he went.  He was instrumental in the expansion of Catholicism in Kentucky.

            Under Bishop Carroll’s leadership, and with the help of holy priests like Father Badin, the Catholic Church in America grew and prospered, and by 1808, it became apparent that there was a need for additional dioceses.  To that end, in 1808, Bishop Carroll established the dioceses of Bardstown, KY, Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, and became America’s first Archbishop.[5]  The diocese of Bardstown, upon its creation, encompassed the majority of the Northwest Territory, including the present states of Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Iowa, and around half of Arkansas.[6]

---

[1] Daniel Brent, et al. Biographical sketch of the Most Rev. John Carroll, first archbishop of Baltimore : with select portions of his writings. John Murphy; (Printed and bound by John Murphy), 1843, 111. Sabin Americana: History of the Americas, 1500-1926, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CY0102896239/SABN?u=vic_liberty&sid=bookmark-SABN&xid=0f3a04fc&pg=108. Accessed 16 Apr. 2022.

[2] Martin John Spalding and Stephen Theodore Badin. Sketches of the early Catholic missions of Kentucky : from their commencement in 1787 to the Jubilee of 1826-7 : embracing a summary of the early history of the state, the adventures of the first Catholic emigrants, biographical notices of the early missionaries, the early history of the principal Protestant sects in Kentucky : with some account of the establishment of the episcopal see at Bardstown, of the various religious societies, and of the general state of the Catholic religion in Kentucky. B.J. Webb & Bro., [1844?], 59. Sabin Americana: History of the Americas, 1500-1926, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CY0106074443/SABN?u=vic_liberty&sid=bookmark-SABN&xid=f6e5c68d&pg=1. Accessed 16 Apr. 2022.

[3] Ibid, 61.

[4] Ibid, 66.

[5] Brent, 73.

[6] Spalding, 183.