Le Colloque international de Montreal. Partout en Occident, de nombreuses eglises, de toutes traditions religieuses, ferment leurs portes faute de fideles et de celebrants. Ces hauts lieux de nos villes, de nos villages et de nos memoires sont menaces de disparaitre a plus ou moins breve echeance. Le patrimoine ne cesse de s'effriter : pres de 2 000 eglises fermees en Angleterre ; des milliards d'actifs fonciers inexploites ou perdus aux Etats-Unis ; plus de 600 eglises demolies aux Pays-Bas. Des dizaines de milliers d'eglises de Scandinavie, d'Allemagne, de Belgique et de France reclament aussi notre attention, tout comme celles du Quebec confrontees, depuis quelques annees, a la desaffection constante de leurs paroissiens. Une quarantaine de specialistes nord-americains et europeens analysent les experiences vecues et formulent des propositions concernant l'avenir et la propriete de ces nobles batiments, leur vocation et leur usage. Ils evaluent egalement les defis que posent la planification urbaine et la gestion de tels edifices et explorent de nouvelles approches qui permettront d'assurer la survie des eglises dans la cite, en redefinissant leur vocation communautaire et leur statut au sein de la collectivite. Il s'agit, en somme, de saisir comment l'eglise peut aujourd'hui redevenir le patrimoine de la collectivite entiere. The Montreal International Conference. Throughout the Western world, many churches of all religious traditions are closing their doors due to a lack of worshippers and officiants. These mainstays of our cities and towns and chroniclers of our memories are in danger of disappearing in the somewhat near future. Heritage continues to crumble, with nearly 2,000 churches closed in England, billions of unused or lost land assets in the United States, and more than 600 churches demolished in the Netherlands. Tens of thousands of churches in Scandinavia, Germany, Belgium, and France are also clamoring for our attention, while their Quebec counterparts have faced steadily declining parishioners' interest for the past several years. Forty-odd North American and European specialists share their experiences and make suggestions regarding the future and ownership of these noble buildings, as well as their purpose and use. They also describe the challenges of urban planning and managing such buildings, and explore new approaches that will help churches survive by redefining their purpose and status within the community. In the end, the issue is one of understanding how churches can again become the heritage of the entire community.