Apr
17
Mediaeval church in North America?
Filed Under Christian History, Missions
Historian Alwyn Ruddock may have discovered evidence of the oldest church building on the North American continent. North America’s oldest church may lie beneath the town of Carbonear, on the eastern coast of Newfoundland. Ruddock’s research centers on a 1498 voyage of English explorer John Cabot. Accompanying him on the voyage was a group of five or so Italian friars, led by one Fra Giovanni Antonio Carbonaro. It seems that Cabot’s voyage continued down the eastern coast to the Caribbean (this is new information as well!), but without the Italian friars, who apparently stayed behind to establish a religious colony in Newfoundland.
As with all intriguing discoveries, there is a catch: Ms. Ruddock died in late 2005 and left specific instructions in her will that her papers be destroyed. Among the destroyed items were her 40 years of research on the Cabot expedition of 1498, which was almost ready for publication. Other historians are trying to piece together as much as they can of Ruddock’s work. An interesting portal into this story is available at LiveScience.com.
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