ALPHARETTA—Msgr. Dan Stack represented the Atlanta Archdiocese at the annual convocation of the National Federation of Priests’ Councils in Louisville, Kentucky, from April 20-23. He serves as the chairman of the Atlanta Council of Priests.

The National Federation of Priests’ Councils grew out of the Second Vatican Council’s call for collaboration, the same call that gave rise to parish pastoral councils, finance councils and other efforts to assist in making Christ present in the world. Its mission is “to serve the communion, brotherhood and solidarity of bishops, presbyterates and priests.”

The Archdiocese of Louisville and Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, who is also the current president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, hosted the event. Archbishop Kurtz gave a presentation and later celebrated the Eucharist with the visiting priests, Msgr. Stack said.

On Wednesday, Msgr. Stack, guided by archivist Father Dale Cieslik, toured the Kentucky “Holy Land,” which included three motherhouses of congregations of women religious, the Trappist Abbey of Gethsemane, St. Joseph’s Proto Cathedral in Bardstown and the original log home of the first bishop of Bardstown. The diocese of Bardstown was erected, along with New York, Philadelphia and Boston, in 1808. As economics changed, the diocese moved to Louisville. The early Catholics moved there from Maryland seeking religious freedom.