What is it with the churches up in NW Dubuque county?

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It seems like we've had a string of bad luck with churches up in the northwest corner of Dubuque County over the past few years. First Holy Cross in Holy Cross, Iowa lost a large part of its roof during a storm back in May 2004. Then Holy Trinity in Luxemburg had its steeple destroyed by lightning a few weeks back. Now St. Boniface in New Vienna is breathing a sigh of relief after a sink hole was discovered in the basement before it got to the point that the church building collapsed.

NEW VIENNA, Iowa -- No one knows when the ground under St. Boniface Catholic Church gave way, forming a sinkhole, but the congregation is breathing a collective sigh of relief that the Gothic Revival limestone church didn't collapse.

Workers building a new entryway on the church's north side Tuesday discovered the 8-foot-deep, 12-foot-wide hole in the dirt floor of the basement.

Pointing to an exposed rock base on the edge of the gaping hole, the Rev. John O'Connor explained how the sinkhole threatened the enormous 1884 edifice above him.

"That pillar supports the sanctuary floor, and the pillar above that supports the roof. If it had gone, the whole roof would have caved right in," said O'Connor, pastor of St. Boniface Parish.