Church Closures

For the second time in 15 months, the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Clergy has overturned St. John's Archbishop Peter Hundt’s 2022 decision to close Holy Rosary Parish in Portugal Cove-St. Philips, Nfld., and merge it with Holy Trinity Parish in Torbay, Nfld.

Holy Rosary Church in Portugal Cove South is rightfully owned by the Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of St. John’s (RCESJ), not the fishing town’s residents, ruled a Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador justice on May 21.

The two sides in a prolonged battle over possession of a Catholic church in a quiet coastal Newfoundland town will be back in court early next month.

While St. Patrick’s Church in Halifax remains closed due to structural concerns, parish and community members are still waiting with bated breath for an official decision that will decide the fate of the property.

Having ruled that the Archdiocese of St. John’s closing of a number of parishes was canonically unsound, the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Clergy has further said that civil law does not trump canonical rights.

The Catholics of Portugal Cove-St. Philips, NL, who felt “betrayed” by the Archdiocese of St. John’s closing of Holy Rosary Church in October 2022 have attained a “moral victory” and a potential pathway to reopening their beloved church.