ST. JOHN’S – The fate of a rural Newfoundland church is in the hands of a judge after lawyers argued today its parishioners must hand it over to be sold to compensate survivors of historical abuse in St. John’s.
Lawyer Geoffrey Spencer said members of a community group in Portugal Cove South, N.L., were trespassing when they changed the locks on the doors of the Holy Rosary church last year in an effort to claim ownership of the building and block its sale.
Spencer represents the Roman Catholic archdiocese in St. John’s, which is selling its properties across eastern Newfoundland as part of bankruptcy proceedings to compensate survivors of abuse at the former Mount Cashel orphanage.
Lawyer Kyle Rees countered that the Portugal Cove South Historical Corporation reasonably believed that it — not the archdiocese — owned the church since it had taken on its repairs about a decade ago.
Justice Garrett Handrigan said he would consider the archdiocese’s application for an injunction against the group and provide a ruling at a later date.
A Supreme Court of Canada ruling in 2021 cemented the archdiocese’s liability for physical and sexual abuse at the former orphanage between the 1940s and the 1960s.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 6, 2025.
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