About 10 years ago, the Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption Cathedral was at risk of being torn down.
The cathedral, built between 1939 and 1940, acknowledges the presence of Acadians not only in Moncton, but in New Brunswick
It’s a symbol of their resilience and holds a lot of the rich Acadian history.
Linked through the French language and catholic faith, Acadians contributed anything they could to help build the cathedral.
Marie-Linda Lord, President of the Fondation de la Cathédrale says they’ve recently had to do the same.
“When I heard that the cathedral could be demolished I said ‘no, that’s impossible, that can’t be it’ so a lot of people got together and we thought ‘well O.K. we will organize a campaign to raise money’ and it worked well, but it’s not over yet, we still need more money,” says Lord.
Many gathered today for the unveiling of a plaque acknowledging the cathedral as a national historic site.
Bernard Thériault, Member of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada explains their reasoning for the designation.
“The board has agreed on the fact that this cathedral represented the resilience of the Acadian community and is a monument acknowled the fact that the Acadians have contributed to the edification of this country,” says Thériault.
Pierre Boudreau, deputy Mayor of the City of Moncton is happy to see Acadians from all over coming together to celebrate.
“A lot of francophones from Europe are here to celebrate with us and that makes Acadians from Southeast New Brunswick and P.E.I. so very proud that they come share with us our happiness, our excitement, our ‘joie de vivre’,” Boudreau says.
The cathedral, also called the Monument de la Reconnaissance, is the first Acadian historical site of the 21st century.
