Church and state are at war in Ajax over a piece of history. Twenty pieces of history, to be exact.
They're
stained-glass windows – some of which are shown at left – in a decaying
137-year-old church the town bought last fall. The parish that prayed
there for decades wants to put the sacred works of art in its new house
of worship. But the town refuses to relinquish what it calls an
integral part of the building's history.
The feud has escalated
to the point where Ajax Mayor Steve Parish is accusing the pastor at
St. Francis de Sales of ringing church bells at all hours as a pressure
tactic.
Rev. Roy Roberts – "Father Roy," as he's known –
accuses the town of "trampling on the graves" of founding families
whose names are inscribed on the windows.
The Archdiocese of
Toronto, which owned the structure on Church St. in Pickering Village,
sold it to Ajax for $50,000 because the congregation had outgrown it.
They tried to negotiate the windows but the town refused to give them
up because of the church's heritage designation, said David Finnegan,
director of planning, properties and housing.
The Catholic
parish, meanwhile, had assumed the windows would be removed to hang in
its new building two kilometres away on Ravenscroft Rd. The "beautiful,
beautiful" stained-glass panels donated by early parishioners could
easily be replaced in the old building with replicas, Roberts said
yesterday. "They're not just a decoration. There's a sacred and
spiritual element that raises them to the level of iconography."
By
refusing to hand them over, the town is "trampling on the very graves
of the donors" and "disrespecting their Catholicity," he said in a
bulletin to parishioners.
Roberts cast the town among the "ranks of Church persecutors throughout history."
There's
pain in Denise Ford's voice as she relates her family's connection to
the windows through her husband Dan, a descendant of William Harrigan,
who helped build the church in 1871. After he died in 1904, his family
donated a window in his memory, depicting Saint Francis de Sales.
"I'm very hurt and saddened," said Ford, who helped raise money to
build the new church that opened in July 2006. "Everyone has a sense of
loss over this. These belong to the parishioners. Why can't we take
what means so much to us spiritually to our new home?"
Removing the windows would have destroyed the building's historical designation, Parish argues.
"We felt it was incumbent upon us to preserve one of the most significant pieces of architecture in Pickering Village."
The town plans to spend $1.2 million to repair and turn the building into an arts and cultural centre.
Two
windows were offered as a compromise but the parish "wanted all or
nothing," the mayor said in an interview. Roberts, however, said the
offer was revoked before they could make a decision.
Yesterday,
Parish cited a laundry list of alleged sins by Roberts and his flock,
including pews unlawfully stripped out, an insult to a staff member and
excessive bell-ringing "at all hours" at the new St. Francis de Sales
church.
"This is a tactic to put pressure on the town over the windows," he charged.
The
town has taken the church and Archdiocese to court for violating the
noise bylaw, following complaints by neighbours. The case has yet to be
heard.
Roberts called the bell-ringing accusations "absurd,"
saying if anything, they're ringing the bell less often and more
quietly than at the old church. Finnegan also denied a link between
bells and windows.
"It is not a tactic. It is not something we'd do or condone."
Both
sides said they're waiting for apologies for the way they've been
treated, although Father Roy is still hopeful they can restart
"peaceful negotiations."
But they don't have a prayer as long
as Parish doesn't feel inclined to ask council to have the historical
designation overturned.
"Let's just say I'm not in a mood to be generous," he said, indicating he's closed the door on further dialogue.
"In
light of them spurning our offer (of two windows) and the subsequent
course of conduct . . . and the silly, silly bell-ringing incident, I
think they should all be embarrassed."