The decline of the Catholic Church in Quebec is the result of that mix of religious hostility and religious indifference
As a radio news reporter, I covered Pope John Paul II’s visit to Canada 38 years ago. The crowds were much bigger then: 300,000 attended a mass on the Laval University campus. People were ecstatic. However, despite the Pope’s charisma — he ended his homily with a resounding “Vive le Québec!” — the excitement was not proof that Catholicism was reborn in the province: John Paul was an international superstar, attracting huge crowds wherever he went.
God did not fulfill the Pope’s prayer; Quebec’s Catholic Church is much weaker today than it was back in 1984., in the 1940s and ’50s, 58 per cent of Quebecers declared a religious affiliation and stated that their faith was important to them; in 2019, that number had dropped to 28 per cent. Amongst Catholics, in the period of Pope John Paul II’s visit, 51 per cent participated in group religious activities at least once a month.
The phenomenon has little to do with the personality of the man elected by the cardinals locked up in the Sistine Chapel. Indeed, many Quebecers admire Pope Francis for his humility, his dedication to the poor, his openness towards gay people and his endorsement of the fight against climate change.
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