Fictional mouse banished from church grounds

A small bronze statue of a fictional mouse has been ordered removed from the grounds of the basilica in Charlottetown.

Eckhart is the protagonist of David Weale's children's story The True Meaning of Crumbfest, the story of a mouse who boldly sets forth to find out why so many crumbs appear around the house at midwinter.

Last summer, the business group Downtown Charlottetown set up nine bronze statues of Eckhart at historic sites around the city. It published a pamphlet for young visitors, encouraging them to search out the little statues while at the same time learning something about the history of the P.E.I. capital.

One of those statues sat next to a plaque in front of St. Dunstan's Basilica, which describes the historic significance of the church. Earlier this year, church officials ordered it removed, much to the amazement of Weale.

"Why in name of God would anyone want to banish a little mouse from church property," he wondered.

When Weale phoned church officials to find out why, the priest told him it was on orders from the new bishop, Richard Grecco, who felt it was inappropriate to have the mouse figure on the grounds.

"I reminded him this is a mouse on spiritual quest. I reminded him that mice after all are God's creatures as well," said Weale.

"It didn't change anything. The answer was quite civil, quite measured, quite plain. We don't want the rodent on our property."

Downtown Charlottetown said it started this campaign with the best of intentions and has had positive feedback about the scavenger hunt, but admits it made a mistake by not asking permission to put the mouse in the church's front yard. When asked to remove it, they did so right away.

Downtown Charlottetown intends to return Eckhart somewhere close to the basilica, and a reprinted pamphlet will still direct people to the view of the church. That's just one of the ironies that strikes Weale.

"Eckhart the mouse is named after one of the great Roman Catholic mystics of the medieval age, Meister Eckhart, who was excommunicated by the church for his views," he said.

"Now it's happened again. His little namesake has been excommunicated."

CBC News called St. Dunstan's and the Charlottetown Diocese to find out why the mouse was inappropriate, but neither the priest nor the bishop returned calls.