New Shrine in Covington, Kentucky Houses Blessed Karl Relic
On August 23, 2021, on the feast of Rose of Lima, a permanent relic shrine to St. Paul was dedicated and consecrated in St. Mary’s Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption in the Diocese of Covington, Kentucky, by Bishop Roger J. Foys. The shrine is located beneath the cathedral’s baldacchino, and displays a collection of over 300 relics.
Fr. Jordan Hainsey, diocesan episcopal Master of Ceremonies and Custos of Holy Relics, oversaw the design and construction of the altar, as well as the display of relics enclosed in the reredos.
A 1st Class relic of Blessed Karl was included in the display by Fr. Hainsey, USA / Canada Webmaster and Creative Director for the Gebetsliga. In addition to being available for veneration at the Shrine, Fr. Hainsey also makes the relic of Blessed Karl available for devotion and veneration throughout the Diocese of Covington and Northern Kentucky.
The heart of the collection is two skulls taken from among the 11,000 companion martyrs of St Ursula; these were donated by the shine of these martyrs in Cologne, Germany, to Covington’s third bishop, Camillus Paul Maes, in the 1890s. Over the course of his 30 year episcopate, Bishop Maes expanded the collection with dozens of 1st and 2nd class relics for the growing Church in northern Kentucky.
Bishop Foys has expanded the collection with several relics of newer Saints and Blesseds, including John Paul II, Maximilian Kolbe, Teresa of Calcutta, Damien of Molokai, Katharine Drexel, Oscar Romero, Elizabeth of the Trinity, Louis and Zélie Martin, Edith Stein, José Sánchez del Río, Faustina Kowalska, Conrad of Parzham, Solanus Casey, Stanley Rother, Miguel Pro, Carlo Acutis, Franz Jägerstätter, Anna Maria Taigi, Clelia Merloni, Francis Xavier Seelos, and Mariam Teresa Demjanovich.
Made of white oak with gilded details to match the cathedral’s interior wood appointments, the altar, reredos, and predella are in a neo-Gothic style that blends with the church interior schema. During the altar’s consecration, a first class relic of St Paul was sealed in a new altar stone.
St. Mary’s Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption
St. Mary's Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption in Covington, Kentucky, USA was begun by Covington's third bishop, Camillus Paul Maes in the late-19 century. In 1953, it was raised to the rank of Minor Basilica by Pope Pius XII. With designs based on France’s great Notre Dame, the Cathedral is hailed by many as “America’s Notre Dame.” Click to visit and learn more about St. Mary’s Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption.