Supreme Court Takes Up a Prayer-Shrine Zoning Dispute

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear Missionaries of Saint John the Baptist, Inc. v. Frederic, a dispute over a small Catholic shrine in northern Kentucky. First Liberty Institute, which represents the missionaries, announced the news on October 2. The Court will review a Kentucky Supreme Court decision that denied the group the right to build a modest shrine for quiet prayer and reflection on its own property.

The missionaries hope to build a shrine to the Virgin Mary, along with a surrounding plaza, walking path and retaining wall, next to Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, SCOTUSblog reported. First Liberty says the group applied in March 2021 for a conditional use permit and variance for a space in remembrance of the apparition at Lourdes, France, to Saint Bernadette. The Park Hills Board of Adjustment approved the permit a month later.

Joel and Elizabeth Frederic, who live across the street from the church, challenged that approval in state court, according to SCOTUSblog. They had raised concerns that the shrine would create more traffic, and they argued that the zoning board misapplied local ordinances. The trial court rejected their objections, First Liberty says. The Kentucky Court of Appeals reversed, holding that a ban on the grotto did not violate the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, known as RLUIPA. The Kentucky Supreme Court affirmed.

RLUIPA bars government officials from imposing land use rules that substantially interfere with religious practice unless they have a compelling reason, SCOTUSblog explained. The Kentucky high court held that the rules treat religious and nonreligious projects alike, and that they would allow a smaller shrine on a different part of the church's property. In March the missionaries asked the U.S. Supreme Court to step in, arguing that the Kentucky ruling stems from persistent confusion over how to apply the federal law.

Kelly Shackelford, First Liberty's president, CEO and chief counsel, said, "Telling a church it can't build a modest place for prayer and reflection on its own property is outrageous." He called it an important case for religious freedom. Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman filed friend-of-the-court briefs supporting the missionaries at both the Kentucky Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court, The Family Foundation in Kentucky reported.

The grant of review is not a decision that the shrine may be built. SCOTUSblog reports that the justices will hear oral arguments early next year. This is the second case First Liberty will argue at the Court this term.

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