CANADA
Windsor Star
Anne Jarvis
Nov 06, 2014
The Paul Martin Building in the heart of Windsor’s downtown, the old post office in historic Sandwich, the old jail in Sandwich — they’re all stately, heritage buildings.
But if there is one building around which this city must unite, if there is one building that we must save, it is Our Lady of Assumption Church. There is none more important, not only for its grandeur, which is magnificent, but for its role in the very formation of this community. We must do whatever it takes.
Undoubtedly, you can question the role of the Diocese of London in the seemingly doomed attempts to raise money to restore the 169-year-old icon.
Parishioners reportedly gasped when the diocese — which says it’s committed to preserving the landmark that towers over University Avenue and Huron Church Road, which talks about the historical, cultural and architectural significance of Assumption, the oldest Catholic parish in Canada west of Montreal – announced that it wouldn’t contribute a cent to the $10-million project.
“Are you kidding me?” some people have asked fundraisers. “If the diocese isn’t giving any, why should I give?” …
You can wonder, as Kim Spirou, one of the volunteer fundraisers does, if the diocese really has the will to save Assumption.
This is a tarnished brand, for sure, $10 million in debt because of settlements, legal costs and counselling for victims of its priests’ sexual abuse. Its parishioners have been shunted from Holy Name of Mary Church to Assumption and back to Holy Name of Mary.
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