20 — THE CITIZEN, Prince George — Monday, July 30,1984 Church among largest property-owners by WENDY ECKERSLEY Canadian Press “We don’t all drive Cadillacs, you know. In fact, none of us have them,” said Rev. Rocco Volpe, with a chuckle. The quip is aimed at debunking the fabled wealth of the Roman Catholic Church. Volpe, the superior of the Basilian Fathers of Toronto, wants to make it clear that for his order, owning one of the toniest private boys’ schools in Toronto doesn’t translate into spendable wealth. Basilian priests teach without pay to keep costs down at St. Michael’s College School, a tan-colored brick complex that sprawls over four hectares of downtown Toronto. Owners of thousands of schools, churches and hospitals — plus a sometimes mysterious array of commercial interests — the church and its 300 affiliated religious orders comprise one of the largest proper-ty-holders in Canada. As Canadian Catholics take spiritual inventory in readiness for the September visit of Pope John Paul, a review of the church’s material assets in Canada indicates that despite some divestitures in the last two decades, the church continues to hold an enormous range of property and is adding to it as its spiritual and secular roles develop. With a huge demand for cash to finance its operations, the church is turning a sophisticated financial eve to investments to supplement the mainstay of its income — the collection plate. A tax-free status helps, as does a co-operative relationship with the state in joint projects. But many dioceses and orders find spending restraints an ironic contrast with the opulence of the properties they own. Those properties consist of far more than church buildings, although the dioceses and parishes of the church own more than 6,000 places of worship from coast to coast. The gamut runs from the classic Gothic style of Holv Rosary Cathedral on the shore of Vancouver harbor to the shining stained glass of St. Joseph’s Basilica in downtown Edmonton to St. Mary’s Church near Yarmouth, N.S., the largest wooden church in North America. There’s the huge copper dome of St. Joseph’s Oratory, perched atop Mount Royal and famed as the highest point in Montreal. Far below is Mary Queen of the World Cathedral, a faithful miniaturized copy of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. In 1975, the Montreal archdiocese estimated the assets of its 256 parish properties, including land and buildings, at $139,416,926. But that figure — substantial as it is — underplays their real worth because it was based on market values set when the properties were acquired many years before. St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, a 700-bed teaching hospital the Sisters of St. Joseph started in a tiny converted Baptist church in 1892, is one of 100 hospitals across Canada owned by religious orders. Hospitals started small Most of these hospitals started small, little more than makeshift quarters the nuns set up during Canada’s pioneer years to care for the needy and victims of epidemics. But the institutions grew with the country, putting the sisters of the 20th century rather unexpectedly in charge of expansive and sophisticated operations. There’s also Edmonton General, built by the Grey Nuns of Montreal at the turn of the century and now one of the city’s major hospitals. At home in Quebec, where the provincial government took over privately owned hospitals in the late 1960s and ‘70s, the Grey Nuns still own an assortment of nursing homes. The Grey Nuns tried in 1975 to sell the land occupied by their impressive Motherhouse in downtown Montreal to a developer who wanted to tear down the grey-stone church and residences to build an office tower. But the sale was blocked by the provincial government to protect Quebec’s cultural heritage. Quebec was the heart of Catholic land-ownership in Canada, thanks to the legacy of grants from the French Crown before the British conquest of the 1760s. France handed over some 495,083 hectares of virgin land to the church and various orders, including all of the 46,136-hectare Montreal Island. The holdings have been eroded by sales, gifts and trades over the last two centuries. But even so, a 1975 study showed the church and its religious orders remained the biggest private land-owner in Montreal. Journalist Henry Aubin, who tackled the investigation for the Montreal Gazette, said the collective Catholic groups owned at least 1,012 hectares of land in Montreal. That diminished this year when the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary sold their 200-hectare Cap-St-Jacques property on Montre- al’s West Island to the Montreal Urban Community for a park. The price tag? $7.5 million. “We love this place,” said Sister Mary Faith. “But it’s not really in keeping with our witness of poverty to be big land-owners.” And there are the schools — separate schools owned by Catholic school boards, parish schools, and private schools run by religious orders. The parishes of the Vancouver archdiocese alone own 39 schools with a total 1982-83 operating budget of almost $12 million. Pinning down what commercial property is owned by the church is tougher. Dioceses and orders operate autonomously in Canada, opening their books only to the Vatican and the tax man. Catholic leaders across the country echo one another in dismissing secular holdings as “minimal.” But hardly minimal is Montreal’s 47-floor Stock Exchange Tower, built in the 1960s by Societa Generate Immobiliare, an international developer partly owned and largely controlled by the Vatican until it sold out in 1971. And like the Basilian Fathers in Toronto, who rent a valuable chunk of real estate in the city core to a supermarket, dioceses and orders derive some of their revenue from scattered parcels of commercial property. Church spokesmen — sharing Father Volpe’s discomfort with the image of vast property wealth — downplay the church’s holdings. If they agree to talk about them at all, that is. Rev. Joe Balzer, chancellor of the Regina archdiocese, agreed to discuss church property in the Saskatchewan capital. Each of the 140 parishes owns one church and one rectory, he said, “but this diocese has been free of real estate. We even rent our own diocesan hall.” Acquisitions draw criticism Balzer didn’t volunteer any other details, but said the archdiocese was buying — for an undisclosed price — a former monastery and a former convent, both in Regina. One will be a home for retired priests, the other will become an “enrichment centre” for church activities. The chancellor confirmed some church members are critical of the acquisitions — they say the archdiocese is getting in over its head — but said some degree of democratic debate is healthy. That debate is part of a centuries-old worldwide tradition, as Catholics and non-Catholics have regarded the church’s temporal assets with equal parts of condemnation and awe. The archdiocese of Toronto, one of the few that publishes an annual financial statement, reported in 1982 property assets valued at $89,729,964. The lion’s share of that was parish, school and diocesan buildings and land. Land being held for new parishes accounted for $3,201,619; only $352,548 was commercial property. Spokesman Rev. Brad Massman said the archdiocese “doesn’t invest in real estate as speculation. “The real estate that we hold is only a base against future church needs for parishes and schools.” Those needs are growing. “Over the past 10 years we’ve been doing nothing but building constantly,” Massman said. In addition to the 184 church buildings already open, Toronto started construction on 10 new parishes in the last 18 months to accommodate what Massman calls a "fantastic immigration” of Catholics. “We believe we (now) represent 48 per cent of the population of Metropolitan Toronto (2.8 million),” he said. “Twenty years ago, it was maybe not much over 20 per cent.” But some other dioceses, pinched for cash in the 1970s, sold properties they didn’t need. In the Halifax archdiocese, for instance, nine such properties as rectories and parish centres have been sold over the last seven years. They had been rented out, said financial director Harold Chisholm, “but the rental business is not our business.” In 1969, the Vatican revamped its investment policy to reduce real estate holdings and majority control of companies, looking instead to more investments in securities. The move was partly to cut the risk of controlling businesses in volatile economic times. The other motivation was to boost cash flow. Cash is the life-blood of the church’s work, whether it’s reshingl-ing aging cathedrals or opening social centres for unemployed parishioners. As Glen Argan, editor of the Edmonton-based Western Catholic Reporter, puts it: "Sure, the church owns a lot. But you can’t sell a cathedral; a lot of its properties are just not liquid.” That’s where the new investment policy comes in. Many of the 74 dioceses across Canada have consciously beefed up investments in stocks and bonds in the last 15 years. The densely populated Toronto archdiocese, for example, held $11,830,218 in term deposits, bonds and stocks at the end of 1982. Archdiocese spokesman Massman said the investments are in "senior, blue-chip Canadian corporations” carefully picked by a team of lay financial experts and archdiocese officials. Those investments, plus loans and bank interest, earned the archdiocese a healthy — and tax-free — $2,414,029 that year. Its parishes collected an extra $751,047 from their investments. The archdiocese of Halifax has about $3.5 million invested — 95 per cent of it in government bonds. But on the West Coast, the arch- 45 owners of thousands of schools, hospitals and churches, the Roman Catholic Church and Its various affiliated orders represent one of Canada's largest property-holders. This story, the fourth of a six-part series examining the state of the church Pope John Paul will visit In September, takes a look at the church temporal. diocese of Vancouver proves the fiscal autonony of each of Canada’s 74 dioceses by breaking the pattern. “There have been some investments resulting from bequests (to the church),” says chancellor Msgr. John Stewart. “But there are no diocese-initiated investments.” In Vancouver — and many of its sister dioceses in Canada — the collection plate is the motherlode of church revenue. Weekly contributions from the church-going section of the country’s 11.4 million Catholics account for between 60 and 85 per cent of annual revenue in most dioceses. “We ask people to give as much as they can,” says Bishop Austin Burke of the diocese of Yarmouth, N.S. And Catholics are listening. Steadily increasing donations have practically wiped out the church debt in Yarmouth. In Toronto, 1982 donations hit the $21-million mark, and despite the recession, they’ve managed to stay ahead of inflation. Paul Heisig, a Toronto real estate broker whose family gives every week without fail, says simply: “We consider the church a spiritual mother who is always ready for us. “We get a lot out of the church in the way of spiritual support which cannot be assessed in terms of dollars and cents.” The parishioner generosity is evident in Montreal too, where Rev. Jules Delorme says parishioners are “giving more” and total 1982 parish receipts of $31,101,000 were up $2 million from the year before. In Vancouver, “the giving pattern has been excellent” for years, Stewart said, but the archdiocese’s five-year-old capital expansion program called Project Advance sparked an even better response. Setting a $1.5-million annual goal, the special fund to build new schools and churches has collected $2 million each year — above and beyond regular weekly offerings. That fiscal success is a sign of spiritual health, too, Stewart says, indicating a “better sense of community and mutual sacrifice” among Catholics. But despite all this, the church is hardly laughing its way to the bank. Its role in domestic social programs, plus involvement in Third World aid, means expenses are marching hand-in-hand with revenue. As a result, says Father Angus Macdougall, general secretary of the Ontario Conference of Catholic Bishops, dioceses are straining to hold their own financially. “They’re all struggling but most can make ends meet,” he said in an interview. “Everybody has to squeeze very carefully. “Most diocese and parishes will have to be extremely prudent with what projects they embark upon.” Bishop Burke at Yarmouth agrees. “There’s no doubt we can’t waste,” he says. Even in Toronto, where the archdiocese ended 1982 with net revenue of $6.5 million, the gap between revenue and expenses is closing as capital spending mounts. The religious orders, too, know the crunch of economic reality. Many have found themselves in the awkward spot of owning lavish schools and hospitals without having the people or the dollars to run them. Part of the problem is demographic. Declining numbers of young men and women becoming priests, brothers or nuns — 609 in 1983, down from 3,386 in 1962 — have forced many orders to sell their institutions to government or the private sector. Financial problems have also forced divestitures, says Sister Aline Leduc, director of administration for the Catholic Health Association of Canada. “Some congregations put a lot of money in themselves, but after a while you just can’t,” she said. The number of Catholic-owned hospitals across Canada has dropped to 102 from 365 only 19 years ago. The Grey Nuns, who still own and operate a half a dozen hospitals and eight nursing homes, have sold a number of health-care properties over the last 15 years because they couldn’t afford them, says treasurer Sister Bernadette Poirier. She refused to talk about the order’s financial holdings but volunteered a denial of the “myth” that “we own Canada Steamship Lines. “We have never, ever had any stock in any company anywhere in the world,” she says. In fact, learning only recently that buying stocks is not contrary to Canon law, the order “just in the last year started slowly to invest in stock” to raise operating dollars. The “myth,” however, dies hard. “Compared with the nuns, we are not very rich,” says Father Bernard Carriere, head of the French-speaking Jesuits in Canada. “We have enough revenue for our people (to live).” Once owners of some 360,930 hectares of Quebec land before losing it in the aftermath of the 18th-century conquest, the Jesuit fathers in Montreal now lay claim to only one school and two churches plus some scattered residences for priests and brothers. The Ontario government made headlines — and a lot of Catholic friends — in June with its historic decision to fully fund the province’s separate schools. The move, long the object of an intense Catholic lobby, means fiscal relief for many orders struggling to run private high schools. But it’s also a concrete sign of a closer relationship between church and state in Canada. The two already work together in health care, and as the church moves into social programs for the needy and unemployed, it is finding the government ready to co-operate with cost-sharing. Clare Westcott, close adviser to Ontario Premier William Davis, remembers the time only a few decades ago when “neither group (the church nor the provincial government) trusted one another.” But the political polarization between Catholics and Protestants softened and evolved into a “kinship,” Westcott said in no small part because of personal friendships linking a number of premiers and church leaders. “(Emmett Cardinal) Carter, who’s as much of an academic as a priest, shares a great affinity with Davis.” Friendliness aside, no level of government gets to share much of the church’s money. Property used for religious purposes is exempt from municipal property tax. And as registered charitable organizations, Catholic parishes and religious orders pay almost no income tax. “Basically, the federal government derives no revenue from church operation in Canada,” said George Fullarton, acting director of Revenue Canada’s registration division in Ottawa. To maintain tax-free status, churches must use 80 per cent of annual donations for “charitable” purposes. But those purposes can include “any normal church activity” such as paying salaries, maintaiing church buildings and helping the needy, Fullarton said. Other tax benefits: Income from the investment of the remaining 20 per cent and any unreceipted gifts are tax-free. And capital gains from property sales can be reinvested without coming under the 80-percent rule. Income tax law also allows the church to accumulate non-taxable cash reserves for specific purposes such as building projects. “We don’t allow accumulation of funds simply for the generation of income or for a nest egg for operating expenses,” said Fullarton. But, to cite only one example, the 1982 general reserve for the Toronto archdiocese totalled $4,457,349. Revenue Canada keeps a close eye on church finances, but that’s been a difficult task for the parishioner who wants to know where his weekly offering ends up. It was only in 1979 that the Vatican made public its financial position for the first time in modern church history — predicting a deficit of $20 million but not disclosing church assets. This year, the worldwide church deficit was expected to reach $31.8 million. Once again, the church is relying on parishioners to make up the shortfall through Peter’s Pence, a special collection used at the Pope’s discretion. Toronto’s Cardinal Carter is a known advocate of more open financial reporting, but other church officials in Canada seem to prefer the traditional approach — paternal stewardship and privacy. That’s a problem, says Harry McSorley, professor of theology at the University of Toronto and longtime church observer who criticizes the “lack of transparency” in budget matters. “The church shouldn’t just be up to (corporate accountability) standards, it should exceed them." he said. Next: The Orders OMRAIL TENDERS FOR CONSTRUCTION OF STABILIZATION BERM AND FLOOD CHANNEL DIVERSION. MILE 116 3 (KM 187 2) TELKWA SUBDIVISION. BRITISH COLUMBIA Work consists of excavation ot all classes of material. placement of excavated granular material stockpile excess material, haul and place rip rap, clearing, supply and install habitat reclamation, fencing and removal ol CNT Poles Sealed tenders in the self addressed envelope will be received up to 12 o'clock noon Mountain Daylight Time. Thursday. August 9th. 1984 Tendering documents may be obtained from the office of Regional Chief Engineer. 15th Floor. 10004 - 104 Ave. Edmonton, Alta. or the Track & Roadway Engineer. 14480 • 117A Avenue. North Surrey, B C or the Track & Roadway Engineer, 283 George Street, Prince George, B C on or after July 26, 1984. upon deposit of a certified fifty dollar ($50) cheque payable to the Canadian National Railway Co Deposit refunded on return of documents in good condition within thirty (30) days from the date of tender closing For further technical enquiries call the office of Ihe Field Engineer, Smithers, B C (604) 847 4271 The lowest or any tender not necessarily accepted R A Walker Vice-President Edmonton, Alta NAL-3-146 'Cancer can be beaten. I know K can.M Pkascghrc CM RAIL INERTIAL SURVEY OF THE B.C. NORTH LINE CN Rail desires an inventory survey of its line from Jasper, Alberta to Prince Rupert British Columbia, comprising approximately 800 rail miles The inventory is to be a record of the rail alignment and ancillary features accurate to the centimetre level (relative) in horizontal and vertical position at a spacing of 15 to 20 metres This is to be established by inertial survey techniques Firms able to demonstrate proven experience in inertial and control surveys related to transportation networks may register to obtain further information by telephoning (403) 421-6968 before 4 OO p m , M D T on Wednesday. August 1, 1984 R A Walker Vice-President Edmonton. Alta NA-L-3-146 LEGALS LEGALS OMRAIL TENDERS FOR CONSTRUCTION OF CABOOSE FACILITIES SMITHERS YARD SMITHERS. BC Work consists of excva-tion grading, concrete work, paving, electrical work, mechanical work, supply and place granular material and demolition work Sealed tenders in the self addressed envelope will be received up to 12 o'clock noon Mountain Daylight Time Thursday August 9th, 1984 Tendering documents may be obtained form the office of Regional-Chief Engineer. 15th Floor 10004 104 Ave. Edmonton, Alta or Ihe Track & Roadway Engineer 283 George Street Prince George B C or the Track & Roadway Engineer 14480 • 117A Avenue North Surrey, BC on or after July 26. 1984 upon deposit of a certified fifty dollar ($50) cheque payable to the Canadian National Railway Co Deposit refunded on return of documents in good conditm withm thirty (30) days Irom Ihe date of tender closing For further technical enquiries call the office ol the Architect, Edmonton. Alta (403) 421 6373 The lowest or any tender not necessarily accepted RA Walker Vice President Edmonton. Alberta NAL-3-146 RUSTAD BROS & CO LTD TENDER FOR DISPOSAL OF SURPLUS CAMP EQUIPMENT AND SITE CLEANUP Rustad Bros & Co Ltd. is offering for sale as is, where is at Lovell Cove, B.C. the following equipment in one lot: 1 - Office/First Aid building 1 - Indoor swimming pool and building 1 - Kitchen/Diner 20x52', condition poor 1 - Kitchen/Double Din¬ er 32x52'. portabuilt, good 1 - 20 man bunkhouse 30'x52', Fabco, fair 3 - 20 man bunkhouse 30’x52', Atco, good 1 - Recreation Hall 20 x52', fair 3 - Small houses 20 x20', fair 3 - House trailers 10'x50', fair 2 - Eight man bunk¬ house 10 x52’, poor Detailed information on these items is available in the tender documents available from Rustad Bros & Co Ltd, office located at 3000 Indus¬ trial Way, Prince George. B C or by tele¬ phone at 561-2211 A mandatory viewing of the equipment prior to tendering will be held on August 7, 1984 Arrangements to attend must be made prior to 10 00 am Friday, August 3. 1984 so that charter aircraft arrange¬ ments can be made A $50 00 aircraft fee will be charged lor the viewing For further information please contact Dan Alexander at 112 604- 561-2211 between 8 00 a m and 5 00 p m weekdays L-4-148 If Cnv*o*wn«H Canada Envwoonamam Canada NOTICE OF FEDERALPROVINCIAL CONTRACT PROJECT TO BE FINANCED BY ENVIRONMENT CANADA-CANADIAN FORESTRY SERVICE AND THE BRITISH COLUMBIA MINISTRY OF FORESTS Under The Intensive Forest Management Subsidiary Agreement (IFMSA) Sealed tenders for the following road construction contract will be received by the District Manager. Ministry of Forests 9000 17 Street Dawson Creek B C on the date shown below Contract E 84 G07-01 Located 5 miles north of Groundbirch on the Stewart Lake Forest Service Road Dawson Creek Forest District on 14 7 kilometres ol Forest Service Road Viewing date is August 9 1984 leaving Dawson Creek District Office at 9 00 a m Viewing of this site prior to submitting a bid is mandatory Deadline for receipt of tenders is 3 30 p m on August 17. 1984 Tenders must be submitted on the form and in the envelopes which with particulars may be obtained Irom the District Manager Dawson Creek the Regional Manager Prmce George or the Chetwynd Field Otfice The lowest or any lender will not necessarily be accepted The work will be administered by the British Columbia Ministry ol Forests L-1-148 OMRAIL TENDERS FOR CONSTRUCTION OF GRADE STABILIZATION AT KM 7 1 TO KM 7 4 (MILE 4 4 TO MILE 4 6) FRASER SUBDIVISION BRITISH COLUMBIA Work consists of clearing, excavation and grading all classes of material, disposal of waste material supply and place granular material and haul and place rip rap Sea'ed tenders in the self addressed envelope will be received up to 12 o'clock noon Mountain Daylight Time Thursday. August 9. 1984 Tendering documents may be obtained from the office of Regional Chief Engineer 15th floor. 10004-104 Ave Edmonton Alta or the Track & Roadway Engineer. 14480 - 117A Avenue. North Surrey B C or the Track and Roadway Engineer 283 George Street Prince George. B C on or after July 26. 1984 upon deposit of a certified fifty dollar ($50) cheque payable to the Canadian National Railway Co De posit refunded on return of documents in good condition within thirty (30) days from the date of tender closing For further technical enquiries call the office of the Proiect Officer Prince George BC (604) 563 1164 The lowest or any tender not necessarily accept ed R A Walker Vice-President Edmonton Alberta NA L-3-146 OMRAIL TENDERS FOR CONSTRUCTION OF EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE AND RADIO SHOP PRINCE GEORGE. BC Work consists of excavation. structrual steel, concrete and masonry work roofing, insulated metal wall cladding and metal roof decking interior finishes carpentry electrical work mechanical work and supply granular materials Sealed tenders in the self addressed envelope will be received up to 12 o clock noon Mountain Daylight Time Thursday August 16 1984 Tendering documents may be obtained from the office of Regional Chief Engineer 15th Floor. 10004 • 104 Ave Edmonton Alta or the Track & Roadway Engineer. 14480 • 117 A Avenue North Surrey B C or the Track & Roadway Engineer 283 George St Prince George B C on or after July 26 1984 upon deposit of a certified fifty dollar ($50) cheaue payable to the Canad an National Railway Co De posit refunded on return ot documents in good condition within thirty (30) days from the date of tender closing For further technical enquiries call the office of the Architect Edmonton Alla (403)421 6373 The lowest or any tender not necessarily accepted R A Walker Vice President Edmonton A berta NAL-3-146 [■ Transport LI ^ Canada Transports Canada HH StJ'pluS 4fi H Gi FOR SALE BY TENDER Equipment/Supplies including CM Portable Buildings 48 Passenger School Bus Gestetner Offset Printer Stainless Steel Stockpots Skidder Tires parts Overhead crane, w/ rails Plus miscellaneous Audio-Visual/office equipment/printing equipment/books/forms. etc Detailed list and terms ol sale available from the Purchasing Agent. Room 1-304 College of New Caledonia. 3330 22nd Avenue, Prmce George, BC , V2N 1P8 Phone 562-2131, Local 239 Sealed bids due 1400 hours, (2 00 p m ) Thursday August 9. 1984 Tbe highest or any offer will not necessarily be accepted COLLKGU OF NEW CALEDON I.- 3330 27nd Avenue Print* George B C V7N 1P8 Phone 563 2131 SEALED TENDERS for the proiect described below, addressed to the Department of Transport and endorsed with the proiect name and contract num ber, will be received until the specified closing date PROJECT Upgrade water supply, Quesnel Airport, B C CONTRACT NO 84-1-3 PROJECT NO S1-P155-0026 WORK INCLUDES Supply and installation of new watermain including approx 1380 m of 250 mm diameter main, 70 m of 200 mm diametei mam and four hydrant assemblies, and the demolition of an existing pumphouse and reservoir TECHNICAL ENQUIRIES Don Ehrenholz. Tele phone 666-5713 TENDER ENQUIRIES Telephone 666-5664, Telex 04-54320 CLOSING DATE 3 00 pm, Vancouver time August 16. 1984 DEPOSIT $50 00 This deposit must be made in the form of a cheque payable to the order of the Receiver General for Canada, and will be released on return of the documents in good condition within 14 days from the date of tender opening Tender documents may be obtained from Room 341, PO Box 220. 800 Burrard Street, Vancouver B C , V6Z 2J8 Tender documents may also be seen at Amaga mated Construction Association of B C. 2675 Oak Street, Vancouver, B C . Construction Plan Services. 3785 Myrtle Street, Burnaby, B C Quesnel Construction Association. 170 Front Street. Quesnel, B C , and Northern B C Construction Association. 3851 18th Avenue, Prmce George, BC To be considered each tender must be submitted in duplicate on the forms supplied by the Depart ment, and must be accompanied by the security specified on the tender documents The lowest or any tender not necessarily accepted NA-L-2-148 Canada