Supreme Court Takes Up a Kentucky Parish's Fight to Build a Grotto to the Virgin Mary
Neighbors sued, and Kentucky's top court called the parish's burden 'self-imposed.' The justices will decide what counts as a 'substantial burden' on religious exercise.
On Oct. 1, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear Missionaries of Saint John the Baptist v. Frederic, a dispute over a planned grotto honoring the Virgin Mary next to Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Park Hills, Ky., the National Constitution Center reports.
The church was built in 1930, before Park Hills had a zoning code, in what is now a residential zone. The order that owns it leased the adjoining lot and sought permission to build a grotto, roughly 16 by 39 feet, according to an opinion piece in The Daily Signal. The local Board of Adjustment approved it with a conditional use permit and setback variances, saying it would contribute to the neighborhood’s well-being.
Neighbors Joel and Elizabeth Frederic challenged the approval, citing zoning rules and traffic. A circuit court sided with the church; the Kentucky Court of Appeals unanimously reversed. The Kentucky Supreme Court agreed that building the grotto is religious exercise but held that denying it was not a “substantial burden” under the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), because the church could build a smaller shrine on its own lot. It called the burden “self-imposed.”
The justices agreed to decide only the substantial-burden question and declined a second question about whether the church was treated worse than secular institutions. The church points to a 2026 Third Circuit decision, Anash v. Borough of Kingston, as evidence that lower courts are split. A ruling is expected by June 2027.
Why it matters. Congress passed RLUIPA unanimously in 2000 because local zoning was being used to keep churches from building. If a government can block a house of worship by saying ‘build something smaller somewhere else,’ the law’s protection means little.
The other side. The Frederics argue the zoning board simply lacked the authority to expand the church’s nonconforming use, and that the parish can build a similar grotto on its existing property.
Open questions. When the Court schedules argument, and how a ruling would affect church building disputes nationwide.
- National Constitution Center: Local zoning dispute over grotto presents new First Amendment test
- The Daily Signal (opinion): Will the Supreme Court find room at the grotto?
- The Washington Stand: Religious liberty cases are front and center in SCOTUS's fall term
Facts above are attributed to the linked reporting. Statements in a source's own opinion section are labeled as commentary. We correct errors promptly.
