LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Twenty-nine Kentuckians cut a trip to the Holy Land short amid the Israel-Hamas war. 

The group was taking a pilgrimage to Israel with the Basilica of St. Joseph Proto-Cathedral.

Mayor Richard Heaton said he attends mass there — right across from Bardstown City Hall.

“I was aware the trip was being planned many weeks ago,” Heaton said.

Israel formally declared war over the weekend after attacks by Hamas, a Palestinian terrorist group. The death toll in Israel has surpassed 900 since the strikes, according to Israeli media reports.

Heaton said the 29 parishioners from Kentucky are safe. The church’s pastor, Fr. Terry Bradshaw, told the congregation that there was no fighting near where the group was in Jerusalem. Bradshaw was leading the trip.

On Sunday, Heaton said state and federal officials worked together to find a safe way to get the Kentuckians out of the area.

“We’ve reached out to our congressional delegation for some assistance starting then. And then things got moving pretty well after lunch yesterday afternoon,” Heaton explained.

State Senator Jimmy Higdon represents Nelson County, where the group was from. He said the first step was to get emergency visas for the Kentuckians. That took help from both the State Department and Pentagon, he said.

The emergency visas allowed church members to travel by bus to neighboring Jordan, Higdon said. At the same time, arrangements were being made to get the Kentuckians on planes back to the U.S. Heaton said the church members will be on several flights. Some may be home as soon as Wednesday.

Heaton and Higdon said they will not be at ease until everyone is home safe.

Higdon said he is a friend of Bradshaw.

“I graduated from Marion County High School in 1971 and Father Terry Bradshaw, [who was] not a priest at the time, graduated in 1972.”