Published
Video length:
2 min
How can we save the churches that dot our countryside? There is almost one in each municipality, and maintaining them is expensive for town halls, which do not always have the means to do so. Some churches experience astonishing destinies.
Hélène Maraudan is retired, she has lived in this accommodation for a few months. A comfortable two-room apartment, with terrace. Only, it’s an apartment not quite like the others. This tenant lives in a former church. A religious building converted into social housing. Hélène Maraudan, who has lived in Bethoncourt (Doubs) for 15 years, never thought she would find herself there one day.
Demographic decline
She arrived at the scene, not without some apprehensions. “It’s still special. I remember, the first nights, I listened to all the noises”, said the retiree. For a neighbor too, living there is not entirely trivial. Built in 1953, the church of Sainte-Thérèse de Bethoncourt lost its faithful with the demographic decline of the town. It was deconsecrated in 2018 with the agreement of the diocese, and purchased for just over 120,000 euros by the social landlord.