Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity Parish

From Salisbury, drive west on Highway 112 for approximately 10 kilometers to an area known, among locals, as Leaman Hill. On this plot of land is a rather quaint cemetery. This area “Our Lady of Ransom Cemetery” will give one a visual history of the beginning and, for some, the end to the history of Catholicism in this predominantly Protestant section of Westmoreland County. It was here that in the late 1840’s the first Catholic Church was erected. Our Lady of Ransom Church was, for the next 70 years, under the care of Holy Ghost Parish in Riverside-Albert. The link between these communities was the number of Irish descendent Catholics at that time. In 1919, the name was changed to Our Lady of Mercy and the church was placed under the care of the Sussex Mission in the Diocese of Saint John. The name change was actually an indication of what was to come; for, in 1936, Pope Pius XI established the Archdiocese of Moncton where there was already a Church called “Our Lady of Ransom” (Notre Dame de Grace). It was in the cards, one might say, that eventually this church would become part of the newly formed Archdiocese. This did not happen until 1950 when its care was transferred to St. Bernard’s on Botsford Street in Moncton. In 1963, there was much activity in the new Archdiocese. Holy Family Church was erected and Our Lady of Mercy was torn down. The Royal Canadian Legion building in Salisbury was put up for sale; and, under the direction of Fr. Angus MacDonald, the parishioners of the now non-existent Our Lady of Mercy Church in cooperation with Archbishop Norbert Robichaud purchased the Legion building for $8000.00. It was renovated and renamed. Thus, the beginning of Saint Jude Church so named because Fr. Angus did not feel there was any chance of a Catholic Church surviving in the community. The determination of the members of this faith community was very much underestimated. THEN…