Quebec’s Bishops Hope Their Dwindling Church Will Rebound

A bleak picture of the Roman Catholic church in the Canadian province of Quebec has been given to the Pope by the Quebec Assembly of Bishops. In that province, where there are 5,618,365 Roman Catholics, only 25 percent now attend mass regularly, down from 60 percent in 1960.

A recent survey of 1,263 Roman Catholic high school students in Quebec found that only 18 percent attend church regularly, yet 92 percent believe in God and 84 percent believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God.

The bishops’ report reminisces about the glorious past when the church possessed awesome power, authority, and wealth. It refers to the social revolution of the 1960s as bringing an end to an era of tranquil assurance, of prestige, and of unanimity. During that decade, many Catholics “took their distance from the church” said Charles Valois, Bishop of Saint Jerome. But the church has been purified by the ordeal, it has refound its soul, and Bishop Valois feels optimistic about the future.

According to the report, the disaffection with the church does not necessarily reflect “an absence of a spiritual quest” by the people. In fact, Quebec is experiencing “an invasion of sects and cults which find here a fertile field for their propositions.”

French-speaking Quebec citizens are well prepared for sects, said Bishop Valois. “There is religious education in the schools so the children learn about God and Jesus, and when they grow up some feel it would be important to pray to God. So if somebody from another sect arrives at their door, they welcome that person,” he said. He also lamented that atheism is gaining ground.

The church needs to redefine its role and be open to change, the report urges. It must use the mass media, television in particular, to remind people of their baptism in the Catholic church, and ask that they investigate their own church first before turning to another. “We have to help them find their roots,” said Bishop Valois.

The report emphasizes that the Catholic church in Quebec is “an old house under renovation,” although at times it resembles “a house in ruins.”

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