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Heritage Ottawa Update -- June 6, 2006 St. Brigid’s Roman Catholic Church - Advocacy Alert In early May, Archbishop Marcel Gervais, head of the Archdiocese of Ottawa announced that the Parish of St. Brigid’s was to be dissolved and parishioners would be welcomed at other parishes within the Archdiocese. Archbishop Gervais also stated that St. Brigid’s Church would be closed and put up for sale. The main reason given for this decision was the inability of the parish with its limited number of parishioners to meet the high cost of maintaining the building and the lack of funds available for required renovations. St. Brigid’s was built in 1889-90 and both its exterior and interior have been designated under the Ontario Heritage Act. It also receives a semblance of protection by the Ontario Heritage Trust which has contributed to previous restoration work and which could order much-needed work on the roof and charge the Archdiocese for the cost. The Trust recently approved a grant of $25,000 towards the repair of the roof which will be forwarded to Archbishop Gervais as head of the Archdiocese, the legal owner of the building. A group called, St. Brigid’s Parishioners are spearheading an effort
to save both the Parish of St. Brigid’s and the church itself. Their
website contains details on their efforts to date and a petition calling
for the preservation of the parish and the church by the Archdiocese of
Ottawa: They have already raised $160,000 of the $700,000 needed to undertake major restoration of the church and should be given a chance to continue their work. What can Heritage Ottawa members do to help? At the Heritage Ottawa annual general meeting on May 17th, a motion was passed supporting efforts to save the church. Followng the meeting, I sent a letter to Archbishop Gervais and received a polite reply outlining the reasons for his decision. I urge Heritage Ottawa members to also write to Archbishop Gervais pointing out the moral responsibility of the Archdiocese as the owner of some of the most significant examples of our built heritage, to seek imaginative ways to preserve this important example of our historic environment. Here is my letter to Archbishop Gervais.
The St. Brigid’s case is typical of the position facing many churches. Dwindling congregations and income do not provide sufficient resources to meet the growing demand of preserving our historic places of worship. The Province of Ontario should be lobbied to establish a program like the Quebec Religious Heritage Foundation Letters to the Minister of Culture urging the establishment of such a foundation will provide a base for more formal petitions from Heritage Ottawa and other Provincial heritage organizations. Send letters to: Hon. Caroline Di Cocco Or email the Minister at cdicocco.mpp@liberal.ola.org Heritage Ottawa Board of Directors will be meeting on June 27th to propose additional strategies to assist St. Brigid’s Parishioners and to further lobby Archbishop Gervais. In the meantime, I again urge each of you to write to Archbishop Gervais and Minister Di Cocco concerning the challenge of preserving both St. Brigid’s and other historic places of worship. Please copy any correspondence to me at: info@heritageottawa.org David B. Flemming,
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