UPDATE: Father Sanchez completed his walk in September. See his return interview with Doug Proffitt here.
LOUISVILLE (WHAS11) -- He's a man, always on a mission.
“I have to keep the journey for the people," Father David Sanchez said. "That's what’s going in my backpack, the people.”
The journey ahead for the leader of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Butchertown is daunting. He will walk 970 miles.
One parishioner calls it exhausting.
“It’s almost a thousand mile journey. He continues a tradition of people who've been pilgrims for about one thousand years,” Paul Hohman said.
The steeples are 150-years-old and are visible from across downtown, but they are falling apart. The slate shingles are falling down to the sidewalk below. Sanchez said time has caught up to them, “the weather, climate in Louisville, ice and rain, the stone becomes sand.”
St. Joe's is in the final stretch of an amazing fundraising campaign that dates to our first story in 2015. They are trying to save the steeples, but the finish line is still out of touch. They are 12 years older than the other, more famous Twin Spires of Churchill Downs.
WATCH: Father Sanchez discusses reasons for embarking on pilgrimage
They need $2.7 million to rehab the steeples. They have about $950,000 so far. Enter the pilgrimage walk called “The Way of St James," also known as the “Camino del Santiago.”
Hohman said, “We're hoping to raise the rest of it a dollar per mile, a dollar per kilometers, along the way.”
Hohman and his daughter created the website www.wherespadre.org to track his walk and create donations.
Sanchez is taking a leave of absence from Butchertown. Starting on July 11 and lasting until October, Sanchez will be walking 10 miles a day, starting in Le Puy, France and down into Compostela, Spain.
He’s been preparing at the gym with crossfit.
“I do so many burpees and squats every day. I did 220 yesterday, 180 day before. This is so crazy for legs!” Sanchez said.
That’s nothing compared to what he was handed 11 years ago when he took over St. Joseph and it's finances.
“I had $230 in the bank," Sanchez said. "That’s what I got.”
WATCH: Father Sanchez discusses challenges, blessings of upcoming pilgrimage
It is a much brighter story today. The St. Joseph parish sits in one of Louisville's hottest neighborhoods. Father Sanchez said he is out there recruiting young members.
“At night, I go out to the bars just to see the new people moving in. 'Oh! I'm your new neighbor.' They say, 'I live on Washington,' 'I live on Franklin,' 'Oh, welcome.' They teach me the computer. We need to keep in touch. They call me padre which is fun, I just love it.”
The steeples, he said, mean history, sacrifice, the welcoming of the migrant German community to Louisville 150 years ago and to Sanchez, the 95-year-old loyal worshipper he buried earlier in June.
He remembers, ”She was one of the first families that did that for us and today we need to save it for generations to come.”
PHOTOS: St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Butchertown
PHOTOS: St. Joseph's eyes preservation project
He'll turn 50-years-old on Sept. 25, as he's wrapping up the walk. Is this a career capper or energizer? It’s a big question.
“That's what this journey is about," Sanchez said. "It's going to tell you who you are and why you are here.”
You can donate by attending the annual St. Joseph Picnic Saturday, June 23. It is in the street this year, East Washington Street, from 3 p.m. to midnight.
Or go to www.wherespadre.org to follow the pilgrimage.
►Contact reporter Doug Proffitt at dproffitt@whas11.com. Follow him on Twitter (@WHAS11Doug) and Facebook.