One day while Saint Francis was praying before a crucifix in a church that was in need of repair and renovation, he heard Christ speak to him from the crucifix: “Francis, go and rebuild my Church.” At first, he thought it was a call to renovate the church building, but soon Francis realized that God was calling him also to contribute to a spiritual renewal of the Church. In a similar way, our diocese is in the process of renovating two important buildings and to spiritually renew our Christian communities. We are starting our fundraising campaign based on Four Pillars.
The First Pillar is the renovation of Saint Columbkille’s Cathedral Rectory, which was first constructed in 1885 with completion in 1887. This reconstruction project will have new suites to welcome some of our retired clergy to enjoy independent living. The Cathedral parish office will also be located in this same building at 188 Renfrew Street.
The Second Pillar of our campaign is to make necessary repairs to St. Columbkille Cathedral, such as plastering and repainting, considering the last recorded renovations were done in the year 2000. Our Cathedral, the mother church of the diocese, has a great history which began with its construction in 1872, under the direction of Father Jouvent. The building was completed in 1874, but the interior was unfinished. In 1875, Father Remi Faure was appointed to the Cathedral in replacement of Father Jouvent, and continued the great works on the interior. This beautiful Cathedral is the symbol of unity for all the faithful of our diocese, hence the importance of restoring the building.
The Third Pillar is to invest in resources for Evangelization, which focuses on the people who do not yet know Christ or those who have distanced themselves from their Christian faith.
The last and Fourth Pillar is to support the ongoing formation of disciples and leaders in all parishes, to help pastors to continue the mission of Christ: to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God according to Holy Scriptures and the teachings of the Catholic Church.
As you can see, in the vision of rebuilding our Church, we are focussing not only on the buildings, but also on drawing people closer to Christ.
It is an honour and privilege to share with you, the faithful of the Diocese, who will join me in this great campaign. With the blessing of Bishop Desrochers, I will lead the members as Chair of this committee with the following members who accepted to say yes to God’s call of rebuilding: Mr. John Huff, Mrs. Nancy McCluskey, Mr. Pat Quinn and Mrs. Christiane St-Jean. We are very excited about starting this campaign for our Diocese, but we need your help with your prayerful and financial support.
There are many ways that you can contribute: through your Sunday donation by making your cheque payable to the Diocese of Pembroke, also marking at the bottom of your cheque “Rebuild My Church”. You may also go to our diocesan website and do an e-transfer or a donation by credit card. If you need any assistance or require more information, please contact Deacon Adrien Chaput at 613-732-7933 ext.206 or dcadrienchaput@pembrokediocese.com Thank you for investing and following Saint Francis as he desired to do God’s will. The return on your investment will certainly have heavenly rewards.
God Bless,
Deacon Adrien Chaput