- The diocese is selling Saint-Edouard’s Church in Lens, northern France, for €362,500
- The 539-square-metre church was built in 1899 for miners and their families
- A priest said no Mass had been held there for over a year
- The town hall would prefer a cultural centre to a private home
A church built for coal miners in northern France has been put up for sale because the diocese can no longer justify its upkeep, Connexion reported in March 2025. Saint-Edouard’s Church in Lens, Pas-de-Calais, was listed at €362,500 on the classified site Leboncoin.
The 539-square-metre church was built in 1899 to serve miners and their families, and was damaged by German shellfire during the First World War. The diocese decided to sell because the church was rarely used and maintenance costs were rising. “It has been over a year since there has been a mass there,” said Abbé Jean-Marie Rauwel.
The report also described local feeling that many residents no longer attended, while the parish still had to maintain the building, a cost it could no longer cover.
The church was going through deconsecration, and no buyer had come forward at the time of the report. The Lens town hall said it would prefer the building to become a cultural centre serving the community rather than a private residence.
For Jamaican readers, the Lens listing puts a price on a problem many churches share: a building that no longer fills on Sunday still needs a roof, insurance and repairs. In France, the diocese chose to sell on the open market while the town argued for community use. Jamaican churches with rarely used buildings, especially in rural districts, can learn from that tension. Planning a building’s future before it becomes a burden gives more options than a rushed sale.
Follow Jamaica Homes on Youtube @jamaicahomes and Instagram @jamaica_homes and on Facebook @jamaicahomesnews Send us a message or email us at onlinefeedback@jamaica-homes.com or editor@jamaica-homes.com
Visit our YouTube Community ↗