Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter
editor@qctonline.com
A historic Quebec City church which has sat empty for nearly a decade is expected to become a place of worship again after a landmark agreement between the Catholic parish which oversees it and a local Coptic Orthodox congregation.
The Église Saint-Jean-Baptiste, the hulking 1880s church on Rue Saint-Jean which gives the surrounding Faubourg Saint-Jean-Baptiste its name, held its last mass in 2015 after years of declining attendance and rising maintenance costs. In the intervening years, community groups and successive city administrations floated various uses for the vast building, including a community centre, a training centre for woodcarvers and stained- glass artisans and a centre for French-Canadian genealogy. Most recently, at the request of the Ville de Québec, the Institut canadien de Québec presented a “pre-feasibility study” for a cultural centre and artists’ workspace inside the church.
However, according to André Bernier, director general of Saint-Jean-Baptiste parish, the Coptic Orthodox congregation of the Virgin Mary, St. Mina and Pope Cyril was the only organization to submit a formal offer to buy the building. Although the QCT could not independently confirm this information at press time, various sources say the parish intends to sell the church to the Coptic congregation for a symbolic sum of $1.
The Saint-Jean-Baptiste parish council, the bishops of the respective churches and the Quebec Ministry of Culture and Communications must approve the sale before it can be finalized. Bernier said the parish council is “super happy” at the prospect of the church building being used for worship again. He added that the church has been carefully maintained since its closure and could reopen “tomorrow.”
“We’re delighted that the sale of Église Saint-Jean-Baptiste to the Coptic community will allow Christian worship to continue in the building,” commented parish council president Serge Savaria in a statement, pointing out that the sale was announced during the worldwide Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
Members of Saint-Jean- Baptiste parish were consulted at a meeting on Jan. 21 at Église Saints-Martyrs-Canadiens, where representatives of both the Catholic and Coptic congregations spoke. “Even though the proposal is very recent, the parties wish to pro- ceed rapidly – the Coptic community is forced to move and the [parish council] wishes to be relieved of its financial burden,” said parishioner Paul Mackey, who attended the meeting. “During the question and comment period, most people expressed their sup- port for the sale and for the continued use of the church as a worship centre.” Speakers at the meeting, including Coun. Mélissa Coulombe-Leduc, indicated that church space may also be used for some community activities.
The Coptic Orthodox Church is an ancient branch of Christianity with roots in Egypt. The Coptic Orthodox congregation of the Virgin Mary, St. Mina and Pope Cyril is a multilingual (English-, French-, Coptic- and Arabic-speaking) congregation that has been based out of the former St. Stephen Catholic Church in Sillery for many years; it currently has about 60 members. “The Coptic community will be very happy to continue its activi- ties in this church, which is a jewel of Quebec City’s religious heritage,” said Nabila Nassif, a member of the Coptic congregation’s parish committee. “St. John the Baptist is a very important saint in the Coptic church, so the church will keep its name.”