It’s been decades since a convent was last built in the Archdiocese of Vancouver, and bureaucrats aren’t as familiar with the inner workings of religious organizations as they once might have been.
So, when the City of Coquitlam officials looked at the application for a new convent for the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia, they had a few questions about some of the language in the proposal.
For instance, the building was to have five “cells,” said Sean Rodrigues, the Archdiocese’s Director of Construction and Property Renewal.
To make it clear that the building was going to house religious sisters, not criminals, the cells were renamed as “bedrooms,” thus avoiding any misunderstandings over the building’s intended purpose.
A similar problem arose with the inclusion of a “community room” in the convent. To make it clear the convent wouldn’t be serving as a public community centre the term “family room” was eventually used.
On Nov. 14, the City of Port Coquitlam’s committee of council advanced a development permit for the Archdiocese to build the convent at the northwestern corner of Shaughnessy Street and Fraser Avenue.
“This will be the first purpose-built building to house religious communities in a long time,” Rodrigues told The B.C. Catholic.
The convent will be named after Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, a lay Dominican who worked for social justice in Italy during the early 20th century. The Church will be celebrating the centenary of his death when the convent opens in 2025.
Frassati is a favourite of Archbishop J. Michael Miller, who has a photo of the Italian blessed hanging in his office.
“Pier Giorgio was a faith-filled, active, and prayerful young man,” the Archbishop told The B.C. Catholic. He is “a real model for the youth of today.”
There are currently five Dominican Sisters teaching at Catholic schools in the lower mainland at Our Lady of Assumption Elementary School, and Archbishop Carney Secondary School.
Rodrigues said it was a challenge to finalize the convent design because it required areas to meet with members of the public as well as a cloister where the sisters can live in private.
Within the cloister will be five cells, or rooms, and at least one guest room for visitors or women interested in discerning a vocation with the Dominicans.
The design for the building was made in consultation with the Dominican motherhouse in Nashville, Tenn., said Rodrigues. Care was taken to make the design replicable if the Dominicans want to use it at another location.
Rodrigues praised Sister Mary Sabina DeMuth, who recently departed the Archdiocese after six years as the Archbishop’s Delegate for Consecrated Life, as the driving force behind the project and getting the plans for the convent approved.
Archbishop Micheal Miller signed the building contract with general contractor Richard Chandler, of West York Homes, and architect Steven R. Bartok of Keystone Architecture on December 14.
The building still needs to be approved by the Port Coquitlam City Council.
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