Parish reflects problems of French church, but priest sees hope

Published: 2003-11-17

MONTIGNAC, France (CNS) -- In a quiet corner of this southwestern French town, lapped by the Vezere River, a middle-aged priest sits at his desk beneath the white Gothic tower of St. Pierre Church. Outside the shuttered rectory on Rue Lafayette, the market traders hawk wine and cheese on the cobblestones, while elderly locals chat over tea at the nearby Cafe-Tabac. After a decade as pastor of Montignac, a town of 3,000 in France's picturesque Dordogne region, Father Andre Peryga said he's being kept busy. His parish includes 22 churches, and he tries to celebrate Mass regularly in all of them, assisted by two other priests from neighboring Thenon and Rouffignac. The Vezere Valley is rich in folklore -- from Lascaux Cave with its prehistoric paintings, to the cliff village of La Madeleine, where locals sought refuge from English marauders during the Hundred Years' War. Besides ministering to parishioners, Father Peryga has to welcome tourists and cooperate with a Socialist-led council that owns the churches.

Copyright (c) 2003 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .