Kentucky political leader builds life-sized Stations of the Cross garden

CNA Staff, Jun 22, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Catholics in northeastern Kentucky will soon be able to follow the passion of Christ in life-sized form thanks to the efforts of a longtime state politician.

Jerry Lundergan, a fixture in Kentucky Democratic politics for decades, is aiming to have the Stations of the Cross and meditation garden in Maysville open by Easter of next year.

He told CNA he purchased the property about 15 years ago. The parcel of land is next to St. Patrick’s Cemetery; Lundergan himself attended St. Patrick School in Maysville from first through 12th grades.

“The cemetery’s always been very important to me, because that’s where my great-great grandparents, my grandparents, my parents, all my aunts and uncles — they’re all buried there,” he said. Several members of the Clooney family, including George Clooney’s aunt Rosemary, are buried there as well, he noted.

Lundergan said he had dreams of turning the property into a meditation garden in honor of the Blessed Virgin, to whom he’s always had a special devotion. 

But “I never did do it,” he admitted. “It was my plan, but you get busy doing other things, and a dream you had sort of fades away.” 

Several years ago, shortly after getting out of prison for campaign finance violations, Lundergan said he decided to finally get the property built. He and his wife spoke with others around the country who developed meditation gardens. While speaking to a friend in Ohio who runs a religious goods store, Lundergan said she asked him if he had ever considered a Stations of the Cross installation. 

“In church, they’re little 2-by-2 plaques molded to the wall,” Lundergan said. “That’s not what I wanted to do. I wanted a nice garden where you can walk, with a few statues, and you end up at a grotto for the Blessed Mother.”

His friend suggested the idea that instead of plaques, the stations be made as fully life-sized sculptures. 

“Now, that got my attention,” he said with a laugh. 

Italian-made sculptures on a Via Dolorosa

Armed with that vision, Lundergan said he sought out a sculptor who could bring full-sized depictions of Christ’s passion and crucifixion to life.

“We chose Reto Demetz,” he said. The Demetz Art Studio bills itself as “one of the worldwide leading studios that manufactures ecclesiastical art.” The business is located in Gardena, Italy, though Lundergan said that Reto Demetz has been to Maysville twice. 

In addition to the sculptures, the garden will feature a pathway that imitates the Via Dolorosa, the “Way of Suffering” that Christ walked in Jerusalem while carrying his cross toward his crucifixion. 

“We also came up with the idea that we would build a cross in the center of the garden,” Lundergan said. The cross will consist of “four steel columns, seven stories tall,” with the columns representing the four Gospels.

Notably, the cross will be built and positioned in such a way that, during the Easter season, it will project shadows onto the 13th Station of the Cross depicting Christ’s crucifixion. 

Nine of the stations have already been sculpted and shipped to Maysville, Lundergan said. The aim is to have the facility open by Easter 2026. 

Lundergan acknowledged that he’s “done very well in life, financially.” The property and installation, he said, will be given back to the Diocese of Covington. “My hope is that once we give it back [that] they’ll use that money for the upkeep of the garden and the cemetery, and then the church and the Catholic school.”

He said he aspires for visitors to the installation to “see the torture and the suffering Jesus experienced on this walk, and how he gave up his life for us.”

“It’s my hope that this garden is open to any denomination,” he said. “If you believe in the Crucifixion, you’ll want to come see it. Methodist, Baptist, anybody — it’s not just for Catholics.”

“This is for everybody that really wants to rethink their purpose here on Earth,” he said. “Why we’re here, and why we should be preparing ourselves for life afterward.”

Source: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/264903/kentucky-political-leader-builds-life-sized-stations-of-the-cross-garden