N.S. bishop to meet parishioners before deciding fate of historic Acadian churches

The senior Roman Catholic bishop in Nova Scotia is holding meetings this weekend along the province's Acadian shore to discuss offers on two huge and historic churches.

The Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth has accepted a conditional offer for Saint Bernard Church — a 1,300-square-metre building southwest of Digby, N.S., which opened in 1932 — from a buyer with plans to repair and repurpose the building. The structure, which needs millions of dollars in upgrades, was constructed with 8,000 blocks of concrete hauled into the town of St. Bernard over three decades.

Meanwhile, Sainte-Marie Church, a landmark wooden building in nearby Church Point, N.S., has received an offer of about $10 million from an anonymous donor for its repair and maintenance — but the gift is conditional on the church restoring services.

In an interview Tuesday, Archbishop Brian Joseph Dunn said the sale of Saint Bernard is under negotiation, and he is "delighted with it [the offer]" because it would leave the building intact.

However, the archbishop said the future of Sainte-Marie — about 10 kilometres to the south of Saint Bernard, along the province's southwestern shore — depends on what he hears this weekend during a meeting with members of the three Roman Catholic churches still open in the parish of Notre Dame d'Acadie — which serves the area's francophone Catholic population.

There are questions as to whether the community is vibrant enough to sustain the 900-seat building, he said, adding that he'd like to hear from parishioners before he makes a final decision.

'I'm hoping for a vibrant Christian community'

"I'm hoping for a vibrant Christian community and I have some hopes this gift would be a way to keep the faith on the Acadian shore alive," he said.

"If people want to commit themselves to this, then we'll go with it and make the best of it."

He meets Friday with parishioners of Sacre Coeur Church, in Saulnierville; on Saturday with Stella Maris Church, in Meteghan; and with parishioners of Saint Alphonse de Ligouri Church, in Saint Alphonse. The three churches are served by one priest, who also provides mass at the chapel at the Universite Sainte-Anne, in Pointe-de-l'Eglise, N.S.

Dunn said until the donor emerged in January, the plan had been to sell or potentially demolish Sainte-Marie, after a community-based fundraising drive didn't meet goals to restore it. The archbishop said that by keeping Sainte-Marie alive, other churches in the parish would have to close in order for the massive building to serve a viable congregation.

"If we're going to have this church then we don't need all these [other] churches," Dunn said. "So [parishioners] have to make a decision they will be committed to this church, so ultimately there will be one or maybe two churches [in the parish].

"This is what I'm presenting this weekend. [Sainte-Marie] doesn't have to be a church immediately with everyone moving, but within five years we need to be moving in the direction that we have one major church here or maybe two on the [Acadian] shore."

Cost of repairs

The archbishop said while the wider public may lobby to keep historic church buildings open, the costs can be daunting, adding that the archdiocese is not interested in creating museums.

"We've done a structural analysis of both these buildings, and they would cost $15 million to repair. One was $8 million and one was $7 million just to repair and get them up to scratch to operate again," Dunn said.

Sainte-Marie Church opened in 1905 and was built in slightly over two years, under the leadership of a local carpenter with an estimated 1,500 volunteers doing most of the work, said Andre Valotaire, the church custodian, in a telephone interview.

Advocating to keep the church open

"Everyone in the French shore area can pretty much say they have an ancestor who worked on this building. They all have an attachment to it in some way or another," he said.

"It represents the ingenuity and perseverance of the Acadian people in the early 20th century."

Pierre Comeau, president of the Sainte-Marie Church Preservation Committee, said he hopes those attending the meetings with the bishop will advocate to keep the historic church open. The parish would benefit if the region's main church became Sainte-Marie because its annual maintenance costs would be covered by the donation, Comeau said.

Dunn said his plan is to address the anonymous offer for Sainte-Marie by mid-May, and "that's part of the reason we're meeting so quickly."

In the end, he said, under church canon, "this is my decision."