1 church too many: Mount Pearl Catholics divided over which one to save
CBC
The two Catholic churches in Mount Pearl are now at the centre of lobbying over which one will be saved — and since church leaders in the city are deadlocked, the decision rests largely with Archbishop Peter Hundt.
Is Mary Queen of the World Church on Topsail Road, where parishioners have been practising their faith for about four decades, the future for Catholics in Mount Pearl?
Or is it St. Peter's on Ashford Drive, which is newer and bigger?
These are very emotional questions coming at a time of great upheaval for churchgoers throughout the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. John's.
Catholic properties throughout the St. John's area are being sold off as the archdiocese looks to compensate Mount Cashel abuse victims.
Committees linked to both Mount Pearl churches submitted bids to the court-appointed insolvency monitor, Ernst & Young, but CBC News has learned that both bids, considered too low, were rejected. And it doesn't appear there were any other suitable offers from non-church-connected bidders.
Now a big decision has to be made: pool the combined resources of both parishes and submit a new, more substantial bid on one of the two churches.
But here's the problem.
A 10-member steering committee is leading the effort to determine a way forward for Catholics in Mount Pearl, comprising five members from St Peter's and five from Mary Queen of the World.
Not surprisingly, they're deadlocked, and cannot decide on which church to save as a place of worship.
The only thing they seem to agree on is that the only viable path is one church. That's because congregations are shrinking, and raising the money needed for a mortgage to purchase one of the churches is more realistic under a single, united parish.
It's a divisive issue, and no one is talking on the record.
CBC News learned that a meeting was scheduled for Thursday morning, with representatives of both parishes making a pitch to the archbishop on why their respective church should be saved.
The meeting was to take place at 9 a.m. at the archbishop's office, but it did not go ahead as scheduled.
Residents in Fort Liard, N.W.T., are being advised to use filtered or bottled water and take other measures to protect themselves from high levels of disinfection byproducts called trihalomethanes in the tap water.
Alberta's election agency announced Monday it has approved a proposed referendum question on the province separating from Canada.
One person has been shot by police after allegedly stabbing two people in Toronto's northwest on Monday, police say.
Prince Edward Island's housing market is becoming more balanced, according to new data.
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government is presenting a new plan worth more than $35.5 billion to keep First Nations children connected to their communities, culture and families.
The RCMP arrested two men who allegedly used a classified ads website to recruit women to smuggle cannabis out of Canada to Nigeria via the country’s biggest airport.
One person is in a critical condition after an incident in Inukjuak, Que., which led to a shoot-out with police.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has picked business executive Mark Wiseman to serve as Canada's ambassador to the U.S.
A man in his thirties is in serious condition after a “targeted” shooting in Kensington Market early Monday morning, according to Toronto police.
One Labrador man is worried he might not make it home for the holidays after Wabush Airport cancelled multiple flights for several days.
Current and former members of Laurentian University’s staff and faculty unions will receive cheques in the new year after paying into a retiree health benefits plan that the university spent on its operational and capital budgets instead.
Shopping local may be the desire, but affordability might decide where shoppers spend their money this Christmas season.
As classes across New Brunswick pause for the holidays, it’s not yet clear which schools are making a dent in chronic absenteeism — a stubborn post-pandemic trend that mostly afflicts the high school cohort, especially in the Anglophone West school district.