In the XVIII^th century, ‘la Nouvelle France’ no longer resembled the early mystical colony. The French peasant population who had settled on the shores of the Saint-Laurence river still remained deeply catholic. The Canadian clergy discharged its responsibilities very well. But, the military and commercial occupations had become more important in the political life of the colony, than the religious endeavours. In fact, la Nouvelle France had fallen for the liberal and materialistic spirit of the Century of Light, following the Mother country’s lead. In 1760, Canada was conquered by Britain. Was this the chastisement of a society which had repudiated its mission, which was to create a model Christian society for the promotion of the Catholic Faith in North America?

Whatever the reasons, the French Canadians, from then on, had to live under the government of Protestant England. The British spared no efforts to erase Catholicism from their recent conquest: Anglicanism was declared the state religion;  Catholics were excluded from public administration; the diocese and the parishes had no civil status; the bishop of Québec could not communicate with Rome without the governor’s permission; Jesuits were expelled from the country; French priests could no longer emigrate to Canada; the local government organized an anglo-protestant school system, and invited Swiss pastors to remove the Catholic Faith from the countryside; London attempted to drown the French Canadians with a massive program of English immigration.

But, this policy of Anglicization and Protestantization of the province of Québec failed. French Canadians remained faithful to the Faith and the language of their forefathers. Under the guidance of their clergy, attached to the the family and parochial institutions, rooted in rural life, the French Canadians won the battle for survival. It was the cradle’s revenge. The large peasant families ensured the survival of a French, Catholic people in an anglo-protestant empire, then at the height of its powers. One has spoken truly of “the French-Canadian miracle”. God had not established our people on the shores of the Saint-Laurence river only to see it die before it had accomplished its mission. Providence still had great plans for the French-Canadian nation.

The political context favoured the survival of the French Canadian people.  The British governors had to give them some rights to avoid our ancestors joining the American revolution of 1776. As a result, the “Act of Québec” of 1774 gave them the right to practice the Catholic religion freely. This law did not immediately end the administrative annoyances that the British colonial state imposed on the Church, but it allowed the bishops and the political leaders to gain, progressively, full civil equality for the French Canadian people.

Three bishops left their mark in the Sixth century. Mgr Latirgue, first bishop of Montréal (1820 - 1841) managed to remove the Catholic Church from the Protestant colonial government’s control. We can honestly say that by 1840, the Catholic Church was de facto totally free to practice its ministry in Canada.  Mgr Bourget, second bishop of Montréal (1841 - 1876) developed the institutional framework of the Church, by bringing in from France, a few religious congregations, and notably the Jesuits who founded the best colleges in French Canada. In accordance with the spirit of the Syllabus of Pius IX^th (1864), Mgr Bourget also defended the rights of the Church against liberal and anticlerical ideas which were spread throughout Québec after 1850.  Mgr Laflèche, bishop of Trois-Rivières (1869 - 1898), vigorously battled the liberal Catholicism which was being spread already, among the French-Canadian clergy at the end of the XIX^th century, notably at the Archbishop’s palace and at Laval University. These three great bishops belonged to the school of thought which firmly opposed the perverse ideas coming from the French revolution of 1789.

From 1840 to 1960, the French-Canadian society was one of the most Catholic in the world. The province of Québec was covered with catholic institutions.  The school system and the social services were of first quality.  There were many vocations, and French-Canadian missionaries could be found all over the world.  If you study the history of the Catholic Church in the United States, you will often find a French-Canadian priest at the origin of parishes and/or dioceses, especially in the west.

But, during this “golden age”, the French-Canadian Church was noted, not only for its social institutions, but also produced admirable fruits of sainthood.  Of course, there were many saints whose identity we shall never know till judgment day:  the dedicated parish priests, the devoted sisters, the untiring brothers, the great mothers and courageous fathers of large families. But there were also a large number of saints whose virtues were officially recognized by the Church.  Since its foundation, French-Canada has given the Church no less than 10 saints, 10 blessed, 4 venerables and 18 cases still being investigated - a total of 42 persons (by comparison: United States 22; Mexico 108; Argentina 16; Brazil 84).

The most famous saint of the XX th century is certainly brother André, the thaumaturge of Montréal. In addition to having cured, physically and spiritually,  a multitude of people, this modest brother of “la Sainte-Croix”succeeded in convincing the authorities of the diocese of Montréal, who were opposed to the project, to erect a huge basilica consecrated to saint Joseph. Our Lord’s foster father had asked this simple religious person, without influence, simple college doorman, to build a place of worship on this mountain.  Brother André, very modestly, personally built a little wooden chapel.  But the number of miracles and pilgrims soon convinced the archbishop of Montréal of the seriousness of the apparition. Built in the years 1930 - 1960, the Saint-Joseph Oratory of Mont-Royal is today one of the most important sanctuaries in America.

However, the subversive ideas which swept the West in the 1960’s also overthrew the catholic social order in Québec.  The “Quiet Revolution” (1960 - 1970) was a vast movement of laicization and de-christianization of the French-Canadian society. Unfortunately, the leaders of this revolution were often Churchmen, or men who had been formed by the Church.  The liberal spirit of the Vatican II Council succeeded in Québec as elsewhere.  Cardinal Paul-Emile Léger, archbishop of Montréal from 1950 to 1967, played a particularly sinister role in the auto-demolition of the Church in French-Canada  His stand against the Thomist philosophy met great encouragement from the modernist bishops during the Council.  Afterwards, he applied with fanaticism the so-called conciliary reforms, by persecuting all Catholics of his diocese who defended the Church’s tradition.

Today, Québec is an apostate society, at least in its institutions and its official pronouncements.  “The fish rots from the head” says the proverb; “and the devil attempts to corrupt the best”.  The French-Canadian people, who was, not so long ago, one of the most conservative in the world, is now one of the most liberal.  The government is on the point of legalizing “homosexual marriages”.

However, the Catholic heritage has not totally disappeared in Québec.  In general, the population still has a certain respect for the Church. Québecois still admit to being Catholic, even if the numbers of ‘Church-goers’ do not exceed 10%. In 1997, polls showed that 80% of the population was in favour of confessional schools; a fact which did not prevent our so-called democratic government from abolishing totally the Catholic public schools. Seeing that this is a rather recent development, it would be possible to rekindle the Faith of the people who was, during more that three and one half centuries an admirable witness of Our Lord in North America.

By invoking Saint Joseph, patron saint of Canada, Saint John the Baptist, patron of French-Canadians, Saint Anne, patron of the province of Québec, and all of the numerous saints that our country has given the Church, our people might, God willing, give up its present blindness and recover its vocation.  Let us pray that “Our Lady of Canada” re-ignites the Faith on the shores of the Saint-Laurence river.