The Roman Catholic Diocese of Covington () is a Roman Catholic diocese in Northern Kentucky, covering 3,359 square miles (8,700 km2) that includes the city of Covington and the Kentucky counties of Boone, Kenton, Campbell, Gallatin, Carroll, Grant, Owen, Pendleton, Harrison, Bracken, Robertson, Mason, Fleming, and Lewis. The cathedral church of the diocese is the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption. On July 13, 2021 Pope Francis appointed Monsignor John Iffert, a priest of the Diocese of Belleville, as bishop-elect of Covington. History Pope Pius IX erected the Diocese of Covington on July 29, 1853, taking its territory from the Diocese of Louisville, and appointing the president of Xavier University in Cincinnati, George Aloysius Carrell, S.J., as its first bishop. The diocese originally consisted of the eastern half of Kentucky, with the Diocese of Louisville containing the western half. Historically, the Catholic population of the diocese was composed primarily of descendants of German immigrants in the towns of Covington and Newport in the mid-19th century, who came to the United States in the wake of the German revolutions of 1848–49. The Catholic communities of Cincinnati and Louisville had a similar demographic. Much of the parish architecture in the diocese reflects this German cultural heritage. On 10 December 1937, Pope Pius XI elevated the Diocese of Louisville to a metropolitan archdiocese, designating the Diocese of Covington as one of its suffragans. On 14 January 1988, Pope John Paul II erected the Diocese of Lexington, taking its territory from the Archdiocese of Louisville and the Diocese of Covington. This action established the present territory of the diocese. Clergy sexual abuse In 2009, it was reported that 243 victims of clergy sexual abuse had received an average of $254,000 each, totaling approximately $79 million. Perpetrators included 35 priests. In November 2019, it was reported that when the 2009 settlement was finalized, it totaled $90.5 million. In the early 21st century, the Roman Catholic Church in the United States was revealed to have covered up widespread sexual abuse of minors by priests that occurred in numerous dioceses; the scandal was first investigated in Boston, Massachusetts. In 2005 the Diocese of Covington announced that it had settled with more than 100 victims of sexual abuse by paying approximately $120 million. The diocese agreed that any person who claimed to have been sexually abused by a member of the clergy or a lay employee could seek compensation