EXCLUSIVE: Supreme Court prayer grotto case could impact 'every single zoning law' in America, attorney says

FIRST ON FOX — The Supreme Court agreed Thursday to hear a Kentucky church’s fight to build a prayer grotto on its property, taking up a dispute over what constitutes a "substantial burden" on religious exercise under federal land-use law.

Ryan Gardner, senior counsel at First Liberty Institute, which represents the Missionaries of St. John the Baptist, told Fox News Digital the implications stretch far beyond the proposed Catholic shrine in Park Hills, Kentucky.

"This is a massive case for religious liberty because it has the potential to impact every single zoning law in this country," Gardner told Fox News Digital.

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At the center of the case is a proposed 16-by-39-foot grotto that court records say would include a shrine to the Virgin Mary, a plaza, walking path and retaining wall. Gardner compared its roughly 600-square-foot footprint to the size of a swimming pool.

The church applied in March 2021 for a conditional-use permit and variance to build the grotto behind its building in honor of the Virgin Mary’s apparition to Saint Bernadette in Lourdes, France. The church building itself has stood on the property for nearly a century, predating Park Hills’ zoning ordinance adopted in 1974.

The property history is a bit more complicated than the case’s shorthand description may suggest. The proposed grotto involved an adjacent parcel that was initially subject to a perpetual lease that would be transferred to the religious organization as a condition of the project’s approval. But unlike many religious land-use disputes, Gardner said, the church’s initial fight in this case was not with the local government.

The Park Hills Board of Adjustment approved the church’s permit in April 2021. Two neighboring property owners, however, Joel and Elizabeth Frederic, objected and challenged the board’s decision in Kentucky state court.

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A trial court ruled in the church’s favor, but the Kentucky Court of Appeals reversed, concluding the board exceeded its authority in approving the project and finding no violation of federal religious land-use law. The Kentucky Supreme Court affirmed the RLUIPA ruling in December 2025, prompting the church to seek Supreme Court review.

The case centers on the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, known as RLUIPA, a federal law enacted to protect religious institutions from certain burdens on the use of their property.

"RLUIPA is at the intersection of two very critical rights in this country: the rights of religious liberty and property rights," Gardner told Fox News Digital.

The church asked the justices to review two questions under RLUIPA, but the Supreme Court agreed to hear only one about whether prohibiting a religious institution from building a religious structure on its own property constitutes a "substantial burden" on religious exercise under the law.

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Gardner said lower courts have developed different approaches to the law since Congress enacted it in 2000, leaving religious organizations with different levels of protection depending on where a dispute arises. He argues the Supreme Court now has an opportunity to establish a clearer standard nationwide.

The missionaries similarly argued in their Supreme Court petition that federal and state courts are divided over how to determine whether a land-use restriction creates a "substantial burden" under RLUIPA. The Frederics disputed that characterization in their opposition brief, arguing appellate courts generally consider similar factors and that differing outcomes can reflect differing facts. The Frederics also argued that the Missionaries failed to show that alternative locations for the grotto were unavailable.

An attorney for the Frederics did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

The case also puts two constitutionally significant areas of law alongside one another — religious exercise and the authority of local governments to regulate property use.

While Gardner acknowledged that zoning serves a legitimate role in how local governments organize, he argued those same regulations remain subject to federal-level protections for religious exercise. That question, he said, reaches well beyond one prayer grotto in Kentucky.

The SCOTUS ruling could affect disputes involving churches, synagogues, ministries and other religious organizations seeking to use their properties for worship or religious activities, according to Gardner. He warned that an overly narrow interpretation of the federal law could have "dire consequences" for religious land use around the country.

For the Missionaries of St. John the Baptist, however, the case that could shape religious land-use law across the country began with something much smaller, a roughly 600-square-foot place of prayer.