Under a vaulted, blue-sky ceiling, a group of acrobats flies through the air, lunging against a backdrop of Greco-Roman inspired columns in Saint-Esprit Church, now home to a circus school in Quebec City.More and more churches in Canada's most historic province are being transformed from places of worship into community centers, libraries and luxury condos.
While some are sold to private promoters and may be given an afterlife, not all manage to survive.
In some instances, the buildings are simply abandoned.
Though long the object of architectural envoy in North America, the estimated 4,000 churches and convents in Quebec province are increasingly at risk as the number of churchgoers dwindle.
"Not a week goes by that we don't hear about a church closing, a church being put up for sale, or a convent being demolished," lamented Luc Noppen, an author and expert in the history of architecture and architectural conservation at the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM).
"Ten years ago, this was a rare thing, but now it's an everyday event," Noppen said.
The religion that fortified Quebecois culture for hundreds of years has worn away. Congregations have been deserting churches for decades.
And members of the clergy are now, on average, 70-years-old and they live in buildings too expensive to maintain.
The phenomenon stands in contrast to the excitement in Quebec and throughout Canada over a recent announcement by Pope Benedict XVI that the late Brother Andre, revered for his gifts as a healer, would become Quebec's first male saint.
Jocelyn Groulx, director of the Council for Quebec's Religious Heritage, an organization that manages government subsidies to restore religious buildings, estimated that "about 20 churches close their doors every year."
Residents in Montreal, once called the city of 100 steeples, have watched churches slowly disappear from their urban landscape.
In early February, an abandoned Franciscan chapel in the city's downtown core went up in flames.
Members of the aging, dwindling order left the premises three years ago, when they could no longer afford to maintain the 117-year-old building, once considered an architectural gem.
"The building was deteriorating, but we had hoped that, even with some kind of conversion or rebuilding, we?d be able to save some of its heritage," said a saddened Father Marc Le Goanvec, head of the Franciscan order, standing in front of the building's gutted remains.
In the provincial capital Quebec City, whose historic district was declared a "world heritage jewel" by UNESCO, Mayor Regis Labeaume did not oppose recent moves by private and public developers to demolish two convents.
Labeaume, who considers himself sensitive to architectural concerns, seemed overwhelmed by the "extremely complex" cases confronting the municipality concerning urban development.
"What are we doing?" he asked rhetorically. "I don't know any more," he told AFP, stressing the city could not convert every unused church into a condo development.
"The city would have to invest to preserve everything. And we simply don't have the money to do that," said Labeaume, who relies on experts to advise him on the thorny issues.
As in Montreal, residents in Quebec City are accustomed to unceremonious demolitions, even in the city's old quarter.
Earlier this month, bystanders watched curiously as a two-and-a-half tonne wrecking ball swung from a crane into Saint-Vincent-de-Paul Church, demolishing its facade.
A few remnants of the building's structure were saved to incorporate into a future work of art.
Property developer Jacques Robitaille, who bought the land to build a hotel on the site, said integrating the historic facade into his project would have been too costly.
"There was nothing I could do with the facade. Soon there will a beautiful hotel on the spot," Robitaille said.
For Noppen, churches are closing because "there are not enough worshippers, there are fewer priests, and there is no money left."
Yet the provincial government was taking the lead in trying to preserve its religious heritage, he said.
"When we go to Ontario or the United States and tell them what we're doing here, they are stunned. Because it's not happening anywhere else."
Noppen, however, said there were too many buildings for the government to overhaul. In his view, public money should be directed to restoring the province's most prominent examples of ecclesiastical architecture, such as the Saint-Esprit Church, designed in 1930 by architect Emile-Georges Rousseau.
"We would be happy to save about 40 percent. If we try to save everything, we'll lose everything," Noppen said.
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SIC: AFP