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<\/p>\nOperating at the church since 2013, the food bank will need to find a new location for the roughly 200 families it serves every Friday.<\/p>\n
\t<\/p>\n
Mpemudjir Kilanga had to break the news to his volunteers: \u201dEveryone was crying. I told them to stop crying because I didn\u2019t want them to make me cry too.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said he was already answering phone calls from people asking about whether his group will distribute food on Friday. \u201dThis week won\u2019t be possible, but maybe next Friday we\u2019ll be able to offer our food baskets,\u201d said Mpemudjir Kilanga.<\/p>\n
He had recently purchased new commercial refrigerators to respond to the growing demand for his services, but they were likely destroyed. \u201dWe started with a small refrigerator, and yesterday, we had almost everything, but today we don\u2019t even have a spoon, not even a knife.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the time being, he said, his efforts are focused on finding a new location. \u201dWe don\u2019t know yet where we will relocate,\u201d said Mpemudjir Kilanga. <\/p>\n
In an interview with The Canadian Press, borough mayor V\u00e9ronique Fournier said she would get in touch with the organization to find \u201dpossible solutions, at least in the short term, to ensure that a service offering is doable.\u201d<\/p>\n
The church was built between 1910 and 1911 and is recognized by Quebec for its architectural and historical significance.<\/p>\n
It is part of the patrimonial site of C\u00f4te-Saint-Paul, which is \u201da group of buildings that have institutional, religious, and historical value, and ultimately bear witness to the first cities, or suburban neighbourhoods, during the industrialization of the Lachine Canal,\u201d said Fournier. The historic 14-kilometre canal runs through the southwest part of Montreal and is now popular for walking and cycling.<\/p>\n
The Diocese of Montreal, which represents the Catholic churches of greater Montreal, confirmed on social media that \u201dthe church has been vacant for several years, with no Catholic celebrations taking place during that time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201dMany people have told us that they got married there, or had their children baptized, a lot of people had links with the church,\u201d said Fournier.<\/p>\n
According to the provincial government\u2019s cultural heritage directory, the church was designed by Montreal architect Joseph-Arthur Godin, who was known for his innovative use of concrete. <\/p>\n
The cause of the fire is under investigation, and firefighters were still at the scene on Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 23, 2026.<\/p>\n
The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Operating at the church since 2013, the food bank will need to find a new location for the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":495938,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194292],"tags":[879,49,48,2467,2338,2461,2468,2460,2462,2463,44,2464,2465,2466,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-495937","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-montreal","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-central-vancouver-island","12":"tag-montreal","13":"tag-nanaimo","14":"tag-nanaimo-breaking-news","15":"tag-nanaimo-news","16":"tag-nanaimo-news-now","17":"tag-nanaimonewsnow","18":"tag-news","19":"tag-oceanside","20":"tag-parksville","21":"tag-qualicum","22":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=495937"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495937\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/495938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=495937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=495937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=495937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}