The three-storey Victorian mansion on Park Street in Yarmouth, Nova
Scotia, is considered one of the town’s prized possessions, a treasure
of unique architecture, craftsmanship and exquisite detail.
The top of one of the towers is a “cozy den which might be used as an
observatory, so grand a view of sky, land, and sea does it command,” an
area columnist wrote recently of just one unique characteristic of the
property.
It is called the “bishop’s residence” by locals because it is owned
by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Yarmouth even though a bishop has not
lived in the Church property for nearly a decade.
But this stunning property, which measures more than 7,000 square
feet and was built in 1892, is now the symbol of what it will take to
pay the price for nearly four decades of abuse inflicted on locals by
faithless priests.
The Church is trying to sell the home for $429,000 as
part of its efforts to raise nearly $2-million, the total amount
expected to settle all the cases.
“We’re all aware that in order to make these settlements we have to
part with our treasures and that’s happening anywhere where the Church
is being sued,” said Marilyn Sweet, communications officer for the
Archdiocese of Halifax and Diocese of Yarmouth.
“The Church doesn’t have
extra money lying around to put into those things so it cuts to the
bone for all of us. The building is important to the people, but there
is a greater sense of making it right, to do what we can, and come to a
place where these matters are settled and the Church moves on.”
The house, along with two commercial properties also owned by the
Church, are expected to bring in more than $600,000.
The rest of the
$2-million will be raised by the diocese’s 20 or so parishes which will
collectively raise money from a variety of sources, including interest
on investments and bake sales.
The settlement stems from 22 cases involving eight priests that began
in the 1940s and believed to have ended in the late 1970s.
To date, 14
cases have been settled through mediation. Ms. Sweet said that given
Yarmouth is a small diocese so there is no single place to draw enormous
sums of money.
In the spring, Archbishop Anthony Mancini of Halifax held a series of
public meetings to talk about the sexual abuse cases and also to answer
questions about meeting the financial burden to pay victims.
People wanted to know why Rome was not providing the settlement funds
and why those in parishes where no abuse took place had to still had to
pay, she said.
Many in the parishes were surprised to learn that every diocese in
the world has to meet its own financial burden and the parishes are
responsible for help the diocese meet that goal, Ms. Sweet added.
“Rome
doesn’t pay our bills,” she said.
“Most people had never heard that.”
Yarmouth real estate agent Mike Randall, who is handling the sale of
the Church properties, said the house is “one of the grandest properties
in Yarmouth” and is considered a landmark of the town.
“It is very unique for the area for the craftsmanship, grand
staircase, inlays on the risers, the railings, doors, stained glass, and
the woodworking in general,” he said.
Carla Allen, writing in The Yarmouth County Vanguard in
April, was even more colourful in her description of the property,
describing the “palladian-shaped stair window trimmed with an elaborate
owl design of wood.”
“The round corner tower is offset with a finial emerging from the
tower’s peak,” Ms. Allen continued.
“The upper floor window is trimmed
with a gable and queen’s post truss at the front. Scalloped woodwork
separates the first and second floors and the eaves are trimmed with
fanciful dressing.”
Ms. Allen noted that over the years the home was owned at times by a grocer, sea captains and finally the Church in 1954.
Mr. Randall thinks the home could become an inn or a home for
seniors. As a Catholic he said he is aware of the sacrifice being made
to right the wrongs of the past.
“It comes down parishioners putting these prized possessions on the
market to make good our responsibilities. I call it a move in the proper
direction.”