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Simeon Mitropolitski is a Canadian analyst, of Bulgarian origin, and a former syndicated columnist with the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA). He is the author of several hundred articles dealing with hot political and economic topics, both national and international.

He was part of the first group of Bulgarian intellectuals and students that began the opposition movement that finally put an end to the communist regime in this country in 1989, and in 1996-1997 participated in international observation teams during the elections in several Balkan countries - Romania, Albania and Bulgaria.

In 2002 Simeon and his family moved from Bulgaria to Canada where they live now in Montreal, province of Quebec. Simeon is a Master of Political Science from McGill University and a B.A. of Political Science and History.

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The French-speaking Canadian province of Québec has a unique story to tell the world about recycling empty religious buildings for other social purposes. This story began immediately after the World War II when the strong economic development of the province was coupled with the higher birth rates and almost limitless power of clergy over the Roman-Catholic majority of the population.

During the 50's it was considered that keeping the birth rates at the same level would mean that by 1980 the population of the province would reach 10 million*. So the clergy highly preoccupied for the souls' salvation of the growing population forced the public authorities to build hundreds of new churches around the province and especially in the new and growing industrial centers. So by the middle of the 60's Québec had its new places of worship waiting for the new generations to be born and grow in peace with the God.

By that time some events in the province made these forecasts to look at least old fashioned. At the first half of 60's the Québec society lived what then became known as "the quiet revolution"**. The clergy was taken away from the social life, at the first place from the education and medical care, and was gradually replaced by the secular state bureaucracy. There were many more interesting points in this "quiet revolution" like energy nationalization or gradual "francisation"*** of the cultural and business life, but here what are we interested for is the religious dimension of the revolution itself.

Let's return to the "quiet revolution" and to its consequences for the real estate because there are some. After the 60's the population gradually began to empty the places of worship in the province. The millions of children expected to fulfill the churches never came to this world. In the early 70's the women in Québec received the right of abortion and around this period the society accepted as a norm the 2-children family model.

In other words hundreds of churches and monasteries around the province became almost empty with few worshipers if any, some buildings short of financing became even dangerous for the surrounding structures and nearby pedestrians. On the other hand, the government couldn't grant taxpayers money for just keeping these buildings standing (most of them with no historic value whatsoever because they were built barely 60-70 years ago).

Demolishing these empty buildings also could be very expensive with no benefit whatsoever for the society. The solution was found by recycling these empty and useless buildings into something that meets some social and economic need. A special granting program of the Québec cultural ministry allows up to $20 million (US $13 million) for projects of recycling religious buildings if the beneficiaries are the local authorities, private companies or mixed enterprises.

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* - In fact it was approximately just 7,5 million in 2000.

** - La revolution tranquille.

*** - Francisation means that the French language has a dominant position over the English. Even in totally English areas within Montreal region most commercial and street signs are in French only.

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