Welwyn, Saskatchewan

[catholickat4]

Hi!
Sometimes I think about Ave Maria, Florida and how it is a Catholic community and how it would be so nice to be surrounded by, and live only with like-minded people. (Although I know we are not supposed to try to escape and run away from this secular atheistic pagan world, but instead be salt and light to it. Still…it is nice to fantacize sometime, isn’t it?)

So anyway…I am Canadian and wondered if there was an equivalent to Ave Maria, Florida in Canada. Then I recently heard about Welwyn, Saskatchewan. It is a small community of Traditional Catholics that have rallied and are building up a Catholic town.
I was delighted! And started imagining my retirement there some day!

BUT further reading points to them being SSPX, I think. So…what is going on with the SSPX thing? Did they ever finish their talks and negotiations with Pope Benedict and come back into obedience to the pope? Or are they still a schismatic group? Was this ever resolved? Is one safe to be in an SSPX community, and receive sacraments from them, etc.? Or are they outside The Church still?
Does anybody know much about this out there?
Does anybody know much about Welwyn?

 

[GloriaMaria]

It’s a nice idea. But, the reality it is a tiny Saskatchewan town and the families who built the little church and the school and the families that moved there couldn’t get along. Charity dissolved. There is an exodus of some of the families. The school has closed for lack of unity among other reasons.

I won’t even go into the SSPX issue. But, no, nothing positive has yet come from the talks as far as a reunification.

Bloom where you’re planted.

 

[GloriaMaria]

Sorry to double post. You can PM me.

 

[Boy_Wonder]

It’s a nice idea. But, the reality it is a tiny Saskatchewan town and the families who built the little church and the school and the families that moved there couldn’t get along. Charity dissolved. There is an exodus of some of the families. The school has closed for lack of unity among other reasons.

I won’t even go into the SSPX issue. But, no, nothing positive has yet come from the talks as far as a reunification.

Bloom where you’re planted.

Thank you! I never understood the desire to isolate and impose a theocracy. I seems an ego trip. During the first 3 centuries of its existence, the church thrived in an overtly hostile pagan world. We can’t flee adversity to settle with like-minded people and exclude all who disagree with our way of life. we must be salt and leaven in the world. These Catholic Communities are fairy tale fantasies and, like all Utopian projects and communities, they invariably end up a total mess.

 

[OraLabora]

I’m inclined to agree. In fact I’m not at all surprised it crumbled. About 1500 years ago St Benedict wrote a rule for monasteries. Even under an abbot, a rule and in humble obedience, it’s no walk in the park even for the solemnly professed. And that’s for single men or single women. It takes years of preparation to reach solemn profession, and years of effort to maintain stability. Almost every monk has had to wage a battle with acedia.

Throw in the complexities with raising families, etc. and it gets harder. Somehow the Amish and Mennonites manage to pull it off but they’ve been at it for generations, and they shun their problem cases, which is hardly Christian.

 

[floresco]

So anyway…I am Canadian and wondered if there was an equivalent to Ave Maria, Florida in Canada.

The situation with the SSPX is still unsettled and irregular. However there is a strong Catholic Community in and near Barry’s Bay Ontario. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry%27s_Bay

The area was settled by Polish immigrants and has retained much of their Catholic identity. There is an orthodox Catholic college in the town and nearby in Combermere is Madonna House.madonnahouse.org/ This sounds like the sort of place you are looking for.

 

[DKJ]

If you want a Catholic haven in Canada then you should look at Combermere Ontario. It is the home town of Madonna House. Neither the community nor Madonna House show any signs of falling apart. You can go for a retreat at Madonna House itself or just visit the area to see what it is like. People do move there to be part of the Catholic community. Besides the unusual circumstance of professed male and female laity living and working together at Madonna House, they are very orthodox in thier outlook and liturgy.

 

[Tampa_Dave]

We are buying a house along the Florida Gulf Coast next year. At some point, however, I would strongly consider moving to Ave Maria, Florida. I understand the streets bear the names of Catholic saints. Imagine living in a town surrounded by such strong Catholic influences? Sounds great to me. I hope you find a similar town in Canada!