Nova Scotia non-profit groups trying to save huge Acadian church now facing lawsuit

HALIFAX — The Roman Catholic Church in southwestern Nova Scotia has filed a lawsuit against two Acadian groups trying to save a huge, deconsecrated church.

The Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of Yarmouth says Heritage Saint Bernard and Nation Prospere Acadie Inc. have fallen behind in their mortgage payments and owe $200,000 for their purchase last year of the former Saint Bernard Church.

The massive building in St. Bernard, N.S., is a historic landmark along the province’s Acadian shore.

Construction began in 1910 under the leadership of Rev. Edouard LeBlanc, who in 1912 became the Roman Catholic Church’s first ever Acadian bishop.

The 1,300-square-metre church southwest of Digby, N.S., opened in 1942 after local workmen spent three decades assembling the massive structure from 8,000 granite blocks. But the years have taken a toll on the building, and the number of people attending mass shrunk to the point where the church was closed in 2022.

The surrounding parish in the Municipality of Clare now includes about 250 people. The church used to seat more than 1,000 people during a weekend mass.

“It’s hard enough to try to save this building without the diocese putting sticks in our wheels,” Jean LeBlanc, president of Heritage Saint Bernard, said in an interview. “It’s been an iconic structure on the shores of St. Marys Bay. We’re trying to repurpose it for the community and the diocese is saying no, we want it back.”

LeBlanc said the two groups succeeded in making the first $50,000 mortgage payment in July 2023, but they failed to pay the next $50,000 instalment in August 2024. He said the groups had raised another $40,000, but much of that money was used to repair the building’s doors and leaking roof.

“If we didn’t spend that $40,000 we couldn’t have gotten in the church,” LeBlanc said, adding that local residents remain worried it will eventually be sold off and possibly demolished.

At a meeting in May with Archbishop Brian Joseph Dunn, the groups asked to renegotiate the mortgage. Those requests led nowhere and the corporation filed its lawsuit with the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia on Oct. 30.

The archdiocese issued a statement saying it had received more than 100 offers for the property, which it valued at $250,000. The statement says the non-profits were chosen as the winning bidder because “it would be a means to preserve the building and its historic and cultural value to the Acadian people.”

The statement goes on to say Dunn made the decision after consulting with the local parish, which would get the money from the sale.

“Because this money goes directly to the local community in Clare through … the local parish, the archdiocese could not accept less than the amount originally agreed upon,” the statement says. “After reaching out to (the non-profits) and waiting several months for payment to be made, it was decided to take legal action.”

LeBlanc says the two groups are still seeking more time to pay or easier terms.

“We were trying to negotiate with them, but they kept saying, no, no, no,” he said. “I don’t know why they want to do something like this.”

LeBlanc said the next step is finding a lawyer. “We’re hoping to avoid going to court because that would be a very long and expensive process,” he said. “Hopefully, we can reach a settlement.”