ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — When the Roman Catholic Archbishop of St. John’s raised the financial ramifications of compensating early Mount Cashel victims in February, it was devastating to many parishioners, but not a surprise, says Dan Kavanagh, a parish committee member for Pouch Cove and Flatrock.
This past weekend, Archbishop Peter Hundt’s statement read out at weekend masses and posted to church websites and social media accounts hinted at future property sales and downsizing/consolidations within the archdiocese, which stretches to the Burin Peninsula and includes 34 parishes of various sizes. A team of advisers is still in the information gathering stage on a major restructuring plan.
“It’s certainly a blow, not an unexpected blow,” Kavanagh, chairman of the finance committee for St. Agnes and St. Michael’s Parish, told The Telegram this week.
“And maybe hindsight… . If we had to get out ahead of all this when it happened when the accusations were made I think an awful lot of things would have and could have been done much differently — we wouldn’t be in those kind of circumstances we are in today. Years ago when … those concerns came up and were expressed, I certainly feel we (as a church organization) should have handled it properly or appropriately right then and there, not drag it out … . I think we should have been more open and say, ‘Hey, we got to get to the bottom of this for once and for all and right the wrong.’”
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Earlier this year, the Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear the church’s challenge of a Supreme Court of Newfoundland Appeals Court ruling that found the archdiocese vicariously liable for the sexual abuse of boys by certain Christian Brothers at the infamous Mount Cashel orphanage in the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s.
The church had fought the case, which went to a civil trial. The archdiocese had insisted the Christian Brothers’ lay order was independent and so the church shouldn’t be held responsible for the abuse.
Now it will have to pay compensation likely in the tens of millions of dollars.
A statement released by Hundt on the weekend told Catholics that religion isn’t bricks and mortar.
“I certainly agree with him,” Kavanagh said.
Still, he said it stings for any parish to lose the bricks and mortar that parishioners and their forefathers built and maintained in good times and bad with people raising money and stepping in to help their communities get through any troubled times.
"... when you lose your church, you lose the heart and soul of the community." — Dan Kavanagh
“We have men and women who, all their lives, committed so much to their church and their faith,” he said.
Kavanagh noted in light of communities’ attachments to the fishery, many churches were built overlooking the harbour like beacons, which would make them attractive on the real estate market, especially in St. John’s and vicinity.
“Avalon east I think there is an awful lot of spots that would be very tempting to anyone who wants to buy a piece of real estate that is put up for sale,” he said.
“It will be a devastating blow because when you lose your church, you lose the heart and soul of the community. That's almost as bad as seeing your kids growing up and moving away because there’s nothing to keep them there.”
After the first statement in February, numerous parishioners began asking him if they would be able to save their church.
He said younger people express their faith in a different way but will come together at times of tragedy and need. Eventually, he said as they settle down and have families, they will want a church to have their children baptized in and mark other milestones.
“For us seniors it’s very important we have a church we can be wheeled out of in our final sleep,” Kavanagh said.
Wayne Power Jr., finance committee chairman of Our Lady of Angels Parish, which has five churches in the Placentia area, also noted the importance of churches in communities, especially those rural areas that have already lost schools and other institutions.
The Freshwater resident said it’s hoped a balance can be found between bringing to a conclusion the process for the victims and their families and allowing communities and congregations to still have a place to go and have their services.
“Everyone is looking around and wondering if they are on that list,” he said of how the various parishes and congregations are feeling about the prospect of future downsizing.
But at the same time, he said they have a great sense of empathy and appreciation for the victims finally receiving what the legal system has determined they are due.
The specific financial and other implications for the various Catholic communities is the big question, Power said.
He said while his area doesn’t have the congregation it had 20 years ago, it’s a steady and strong church community with people contributing what they can to the operation and the parish and there’s certainly concern over what’s to come.
“We will work with the Episcopal Corp. to help them find their path forward,” Power said.
In Mount Pearl, Catholic parishioner David Jones, who attends Mary Queen of the World parish, said he has faith in the archbishop to make the right decisions in a timely manner.
“I can empathize with the archbishop going through a difficult time right now having to make these decisions,” Jones said.
He said he thinks the archbishop has expressed his apologies and remorse to the victims in the best way he could have done.
The Roman Catholic Episcopal Corp. of St. John’s, the corporate entity of the archdiocese, files a public tax return each year as a registered charity for “the promotion of the Roman Catholic faith and the relief of poverty, and the maintenance of Catholic cemeteries.”
In its detailed financial statements for 2019, the corporation declared assets of nearly $9.5 million, liabilities of nearly $12.6 million, revenue of nearly $4.1 million and expenditures of slightly more than $4.7 million.
Barb Sweet is The Telegram's senior reporter.
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