The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case in which two neighbors are trying to stop a Catholic group in Kentucky from building a shrine to the Virgin Mary on its own land. The justices agreed to take up the appeal in a Thursday orders list and will review a Kentucky Supreme Court ruling that went against the Missionaries of St. John the Baptist. No date has been set for oral arguments.
The outcome could set a nationwide precedent for how cities apply zoning rules that may burden religious practice. The Missionaries of St. John the Baptist, a religious association of Catholics, operates the Our Lady of Lourdes Chapel in Park Hills, a northern Kentucky city just south of Cincinnati.
The dispute turns on the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), a federal law that bars zoning rules from placing a substantial burden on a church's religious exercise. The association argues that stopping the shrine would violate that law. The case gives the justices a chance to clarify which standards apply under RLUIPA.
“Telling a church it can’t build a modest place for prayer and reflection on its own property is outrageous,” Kelly Shackelford, the CEO of First Liberty Institute, a legal organization representing Missionaries of St. John the Baptist, said in a statement. “Federal law provides clear protections for how faith-based organizations can use their property to support their mission.
This is an important case for religious freedom.” In March 2021, the association applied for a variance and a conditional use permit so it could build a small grotto behind its building. The Park Hills Board of Adjustment, the city body that rules on such requests, approved the request in April 2021.