Wekweeti celebrates new Catholic church

Roman Catholics in Wekweeti, N.W.T., prayed, sang, feasted and danced on Sunday to mark the opening of the community's new church building. The opening service at St. Peter of Wekweeti Church marked the first time Catholics in the remote Tlicho community have a central place to worship.

Services were previously held in various homes and buildings around the tiny community of 137.
"There's no word for it to describe it. I was really happy," Marie-Adele Football, a pastoral leader in Wekweeti, told CBC News on Sunday.

"I was emotional, but I didn't want to show it. The way I feel is like — it's joy."
With an arched hardwood ceiling, wood floors and bright yellow walls, the new church seats about 100 people.

It was built with the help of fundraising, donations from the Tlicho aboriginal government, and funding from the N.W.T.'s diamond mines.
Football said it will be easier for her to lead prayers at the church, now that she no longer has to cart the song book around from house to house.

Mackenzie Diocese Bishop Emeritus Denis Croteau, who serves the Tlicho communities of Wekweeti, Dettah, Gameti and Whati, said he is pleased the new church even comes with a bell.
"I came [to Wekweeti] not so long ago, just a few months ago, and people didn't know I was here because I ended up being the only one in church. By the time they came, I was over," Croteau said with a laugh.
"Now you ring the bell and they know it's time. They hear the bell and they come."
Football said many residents in Wekweeti have strong faith, despite the damaging legacy that residential school experiences have left on some.
"There's one thing we know because our elders always used to say — is to forgive and go on. And I'll never let that go," she said.
Football said she hopes the new building will inspire youth in Wekweeti to become more involved with the church.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2010/05/10/nwt-wekweeti-church.html