At a recent diocesan council, the following comments were made about the three buildings that were awarded to the diocese as part of its legal action against ANiC:

Bishop Michael pointed out that DC has spoken in the past and made decisions about the three parishes that are the subject of this plan; St. Matthew’s, Abbotsford, St. Matthias and St. Luke, Oakridge and St. John’s Shaughnessy, primarily regarding funding.

Bishop Michael reminded DC of Assistant Treasurer Jim Stewart’s words that no diocese has ever planted three churches on “scorched ground”.

What Jim Stewart and Michael Ingham meant was that there are no people in the parishes that reverted to diocesan ownership. That is because the congregations decided that it is better to follow Christ than Ingham and so forfeited their buildings.

Stewart misquoted: he meant “scorched earth”. “Scorched earth” is “a military strategy or operational method which involves destroying anything that might be useful to the enemy while advancing through or withdrawing from an area.” Had the parishes adopted a scorched earth policy, they would have set fire to, or otherwise demolished their buildings before they fell into the hands of the enemy. But they didn’t – they just left.

Even Jesus left with congregations; not that the diocese would miss him. All that remains is – as Stewart himself noted – a mausoleum: death and the stench that accompanies it.