Nuestra Señora de Fátima de Jonquière (Church of Our Lady of Fátima de Jonquière)

Marian vocation of Jonquière (Saguenay) (Quebec)
Recognized by the Church

The parish was built in the context of the urban growth of Jonquière in the early 1960s, within the pastoral of the new neighborhoods. The former municipality of Jonquière is now part of the city of Saguenay, in the Saguenay- Lac@-@ Saint- Jean region (Quebec). The church was built in 1962-1963 in armed concrete, according to the project of the architects Léonce Desgagné and Paul-Marie Cárté. The whole church and presbytery was recognized as a heritage site by the Ministry of Culture of Quebec. In the 2010's the parish was closed to veneration and the building was threatened with demolition, motivating efforts to safeguard by heritage associations. The exact date of blessing or parish erection is not recorded in the sources consulted.

Main data

Origin and history

The parish was built in the context of the urban growth of Jonquière in the early 1960s, within the pastoral of the new neighborhoods. The former municipality of Jonquière is now part of the city of Saguenay, in the Saguenay- Lac@-@ Saint- Jean region (Quebec). The church was built in 1962-1963 in armed concrete, according to the project of the architects Léonce Desgagné and Paul-Marie Cárté. The whole church and presbytery was recognized as a heritage site by the Ministry of Culture of Quebec. In the 2010's the parish was closed to veneration and the building was threatened with demolition, motivating efforts to safeguard by heritage associations. The exact date of blessing or parish erection is not recorded in the sources consulted.

The image and the sanctuary

The most unique feature of the temple is its architecture: an inclined concrete cover that forms a large pyramid shop, whose profile reminds of a wigwam or tipi. It is considered a major work of the modern religious architecture of Quebec in the 1960s and an emblematic example of the architectural renewal of the time.

Sponsorship and coronation

The title is Our Lady of Fatima, in reference to the apparitions of 1917 in Portugal. There is no pontifical coronation or basilica title.

Party and devotion

They do not contain in the open sources consulted stories of miracles, exvotes or co-fradies of the Rosary associated with this church. The sources quote it mainly because of its architectural value and as a symbol of a generation of faithful in the new neighborhoods of Jonquière.

Link to the Rosary

The dedication to Notre-Dame-de-Fatima refers directly to the message of Fatima and the importance of the prayer of the Rosary. However, the specific parish literature (processions, Rosary co-fradies or other practices) is not recorded in the sources consulted.