“Devastation Will Not Have the Last Word”: Dorian Destroyed This Abaco Church. Four Years Later It Is Back

• Sts Mary and Andrew Catholic Church in Treasure Cay was destroyed by Hurricane Dorian
• The rebuilt church was dedicated on November 5, 2023
• The Archdiocese of Miami gave about $1.5 million to recovery efforts
• Abaco suffered 87 per cent of the Bahamas’ Dorian damage

Parishioners in Treasure Cay, Abaco, spent Christmas 2023 in their own church for the first time since Hurricane Dorian destroyed it in September 2019, OSV News reported in December 2023. Archbishop Patrick C. Pinder of Nassau dedicated the rebuilt Sts Mary and Andrew Catholic Church on November 5, 2023.

Dorian struck The Bahamas as a Category 5 storm. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration put damage at $3.4 billion, and, according to figures cited in the report, Abaco took 87 per cent of the damage, with 75 per cent of its homes damaged. The Archdiocese of Miami contributed about $1.5 million to recovery through a special collection. The new church, designed by Miami firm Ben Lopez & Associates with an open-air layout, wood and artwork, was paid for partly from that collection and other US donors, despite delays from the coronavirus pandemic.

“There is a psychological impact rebuilding the church had on a community and makes a statement that devastation will not have the last word,” Archbishop Pinder said, adding that rebuilding “affirms the dignity of the entire community.” He also recalled how the storm scattered the island’s people: “Our schools there closed, and we had to airlift teachers out of Abaco.”

Peter Routsis-Arroyo, chief executive of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami, visited with a delegation. “To come back here four years later and to think back on the devastation that we saw and to see the church and school rebuilt and the community coming back is very emotional, and yet you can still see a lot that has to be done in terms of rebuilding,” he said. Many parishioners are seasonal residents who returned to see the progress.

Jamaica is now in the long middle of its own rebuilding after Hurricane Melissa, and the Abaco experience offers a realistic timeline: four years from destruction to dedication, with a partner church overseas providing much of the money. Jamaican parishes have strong ties to congregations in Miami, New York, Toronto and London, and a structured partnership like Miami’s with Abaco, with a special collection, a named architect and a clear goal, is one of the most effective ways for the diaspora to help rebuild churches at home.

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