Religion was both a blessing and a curse in Quebec

KAMOURASKA, QUE.—The original French version of O Canada was written in 1880 by a man who lived just down the road. Adolphe-Basile Routhier was a judge in Kamouraska, but also an author, poet, and ultramontane Catholic. The latter two characteristics were evident in the national anthem: the lyrics refer to knowing “how to carry the sword, (and) how to carry the cross.” Last week, I had the chance to know how to carry the cross. I received a call from a volunteer with the local church: could I help out by carrying the cross at the funeral of a local woman? I agreed, even though I am Anglican. In the spirit of ecumenism and as a member of the town council, I was honoured. My mother had long ago been active in the same church, so it is something of a family tradition. When I arrived, there were only a handful of mourners, made sparser in the cavernous church. Wearing a suit for the first time in years, I carried the cross ahead of the priest and the urn to the head of the church, carefully following his direction. The deceased was a member of a local family, most of whom are elderly or have died. Like many churches in the region, the parishes are dying off as quickly as their parishioners. In our county alone, four churches have already been deconsecrated. The priest, a quiet man in his 80s, serves the churches still open. He expressed concern to me more would soon close. These buildings that still dominate the towns and villages of the Lower Saint Lawrence are more often than not empty or used for other purposes. Quebec is now a totally secular society, a far cry from my childhood in the 1950s and '60s. Attendance then was mandatory, and local schools were run by the church. My Catholic cousins often prayed for their Protestant grandfather, who was destined for Hell. But while the Catholic church has been a legitimate target of criticism for its domination of Quebec society in the past, it is also what kept the culture and language intact. From the British conquest in the 18th century, it managed the society and kept it French. It opposed offers of free English education by British authorities in the 19th century. And curates like Abbé Lionel Groulx kept alive the romantic notion of La Laurentie—a green, French, rural paradise where factories did not exist. Of course, reality intruded and a million Quebecers went to New England to work in textile mills in the late 1800s. While the church held sway through the time of premier Maurice Duplessis in the 1930s to the post-war era, the decline since the “Quiet Revolution” of the 1960s has been swift. Today, there are few Catholic schools, almost no young couples marry in church (if they marry at all), and priests and nuns are literally a dying breed. Many Quebec political analysts have suggested the church has been replaced by government in pressing nationalist policies like the Charter of the French Language and its recent update, Bill 96. Or by supporting the “secularism” law, Bill 21, which defines the State as secular, but discriminates against people of Muslim and other faiths. There is some truth to that, but the current Coalition Avenir Québec government of François Legault lacks a clear moral code to accompany its policies. It is so taken with its nationalist ideology, it does not consider the human consequences of its policies. While some Catholic priests are identified with abuse, we should remember many others devoted their lives to educating and assisting others. I was reminded of this at the funeral when the priest made reference to Jesus’ declaration there were two great commandments, “Love God, and love your neighbour as yourself.” The words echoed around the empty church. I reflected, if everyone were to simply do those two things, we might not have mass shootings, racism, bigotry, economic disparities, and war—all daily realities in our lives. Meanwhile, the attraction of the cities multiplies, and towns like Kamouraska decline in population and significance. Rural churches are a reminder of a bygone era, but also of a loss of innocence we will never recover. Andrew Caddell is retired from Global Affairs Canada, where he was a senior policy adviser. He previously worked as an adviser to Liberal governments. He is a fellow with the Canadian Global Affairs Institute and a town councillor in Kamouraska, Que. He can be reached at pipson52@hotmail.com. The Hill Times

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Religion was both a blessing and a curse in Quebec

Political analysts have suggested the church has been replaced by government, but Premier François Legault’s CAQ lacks a clear moral code to accompany its policies.

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