CLICK TO HEAR JACK HALL’S INTERVIEW WITH NANCY HAUN, BBF
A huge statue of Bishop Frederick Baraga near L’Anse draws locals and tourists alike.
The Upper Peninsula’s first Roman Catholic bishop and candidate for sainthood is also celebrated at a Shrine gift shop a few feet away from that 63-foot tall statue.
Nancy Haun is the Vice President of the Bishop Baraga Foundation, which runs that gift shop and takes care of the grounds, including the statue of the Snowshoe Priest. The 63-foot tall statue has been there for 54 years, on a bluff high above Keweenaw Bay.
Haun tells RRN News that the items sold in that Shrine shop help to pay for maintenance, and it is not to be confused with another nearby shop.
That’s the shop that also sells religious items as well as ice cream and pasties, and it is the first building you see as you walk to the satatue from the parking lot.
Haun says that is a private, for-profit business, with no money going to the Foundation, and it is not technically located on Shrine property.
Haun says that in her shop, besides selling small religious items like plaques, necklaces, books, and candles, they also take care of the grounds by selling Memorial Candles. These can be to be placed alongside a walkway near the statue, which are lit and used in prayers or reflection.
Baraga, a Slovenian Catholic priest who lived in the 1800’s, has been the subject of a beatification effort for decades. He was declared “venerable” by Pope Benedict in 2012, and the effort to have Baraga declared a saint continues to this day.
Haun says that several miracles can be attributed to Baraga, but they still have to be sent to and be confirmed by the Vatican, a process that can take decades and even centuries.
She says the shrine, and the foundation, receive no money from the Church and rely on donations. The shrine is open year-round, but heavy snow makes it hard, and sometimes impossible, to get to in the harsh, snowy Baraga County winters.
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