At a time when many churches are falling into disrepair, emptying out or even closing, another is being built in Gavrus, in the heart of the bocage, a few kilometers from Caen (Calvados)! “It has been more than sixty years since any new church had been built in the department. And it’s definitely a great adventure,” rejoices Laure, a devotee.
It is true that discovering around a bend this church under construction in the heart of this small village could make you believe in an apparition. But no, it is indeed a new church which should be open to the public at the end of 2024 for a total budget estimated at 1.6 million euros. With 37 m long and 28 m high, it will be able to accommodate up to 300 worshipers.
“It is both a source of pride and a hope. It is also a mark of our confidence in the future,” enthuses Father Jean-Marie Lebourg of this already very advanced project. He is the prior, in other words the person in charge, of a community of four priests installed here since 1992. Four priests from a congregation not quite like the others since it is the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius a traditionalist Catholic community, often labeled as fundamentalist, particularly for its Latin masses and its radical positions against abortion or euthanasia.
A community of 200 faithful
The community, which counts more than 200 faithful in the region, held its masses in an obsolete building in Caen. “We sought to take over an unused church. However, for political or religious reasons, we were unable to reach an agreement. »
But the solution seemed to have fallen from the sky… Thanks in particular to a donation of several tens of thousands of euros from a faithful before his death, the fraternity decided to build its own church. Other donations then poured in and the project was able to begin in 2022. “It is an exceptional project from every point of view. A unique project in a quarry,” comments the architect.
“If we commit to such a project, it is because we believe in the future of our fraternity. It has continued to grow in recent decades. More and more young families want to join us. In an era marked by the loss of bearings, people need to find meaning again. And they are returning to practices that were those of our ancestors until the 1960s. In tradition and a sense of the sacred. We could say more trivially that we don’t change a winning team,” smiles the prior, while greeting a neighbor, who is pruning the hedge in his garden.
“As neighbors, there is nothing to say”
“Of course it’s strange to see a church rising from the ground in our time, but why not. After all, they’ve been here for a long time. We greet each other and we have never had anything to reproach them for. On the contrary, they are always friendly. Even if obviously, what we hear about traditionalists is not my cup of tea. Their positions on abortion or homosexuality are really from another age. But it’s something else. In any case, as neighbors, there is nothing to say,” assures a village resident.
Cohabitation in fact seems peaceful and nothing should mar the opening to the public at the end of 2024. An opening which the priests hope will make it possible to attract even more faithful.
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