FRENCH CANADA
A CATHOLIC CHURCH ENDEAVOR
By Jean-Claude Dupuis

The French version of the national Anthem says that our country "knows how to carry the sword and the cross." The origins of Canada are certainly marked by the efforts of the Church, much more so than by the military exploits of the Royal French Armies in North America.

In 1534, the discoverer of Canada, Jacques Cartier, planted a cross, decorated with fleurs de lys on the soil of Gaspé, in the gulf of Saint-Laurent. His gesture signified not only the taking of possession of the territory in the name of the king of France, it indicated especially the wish to integrate the inhabitants of the New World into the body of the Catholic Church.

Modern historians, steeped in materialism and atheism, have the tendency to minimize, if not ridicule, the religious motives of the colonization efforts in the Americas by the Europeans. In this regard, the noble figure of Christopher Columbus was especially slandered. However, Pope Pius IX himself introduced a process of beatification for the discoverer of America. The commission charged with studying the case did not, in the end, recommend his beatification for a technical reason (the wedding certificate for his second marriage could not be found), but it confirmed that the celebrated explorer was motivated during his whole life by a deep Christian faith and the wish to extend the kingdom of Christ to the pagans of the New World. It is unfortunately true that the protestant, liberal, or marxist historians are the ones who unjustly slandered the colonial efforts of Catholic Spain in the Sixteenth century.

Further, other slanderous historians have attempted to minimize the importance of the apostolic efforts which presided at the birth of French Canada. But it is very difficult for them to deny the role of the saints who marked the first steps of New France, and even to minimize the largely religious aspect of the colonial policies of the kings of France, at least during the Seventeenth century.

The father of French Canada is Samuel de Champlain, In 1608, he founded the colony of Québec on the shores of the Saint-Laurent, at a strategic location militarily (the narrowness of the river, and the height of Cap Diamand made it an ideal location for the firing of canons) and economically (the closeness to sources of furs).

But his real purpose was neither military nor economic. He intended to establish, in Canada, a French colony to facilitate the evangelization of Indians. If New France was to become strong and prosperous, it was not to raise the prestige of the king of France or to make the founder of the colony richer: it was, rather, to give to the missionaries the material means of saving the souls of the poor pagan Indians.

The economic and political aspects of the colonization of Canada were therefore secondary to the religious aspect, not only in the mind of Samuel de Champlain, but equally in the mind of the king of France. In 1627, the cardinal of Richelieu, then prime minister for the very pious king Louis XIII, refused to the Protestants, permission to settle in Canada. The new colony was to be populated only by "pure French Catholics." In this way he expressed, officially, the desire to make of New France the home of Catholicism in America.

The apostolic character of French colonization in Canada is even more evident in the founding of Montreal. In 1635, Our Lord appeared to a rich Parisian named Jerôme Le Royer de La Dauversière, to request from him the establishment, on the island of Montreal, of a colony settled by pious people so as to encourage the conversion of the Indians. This vision was eventually recognized as authentic by the Church. Moreover, the process for the beatification of La Dauversière is presently ongoing.

However, Monsieur de La Dauversière did not found the colony himself. With the help of Mr. Olier, the blessed founder of the Priests of Saint-Sulpice, he created the "Notre-Dame de Montréal Society" to support, financially aged politically, this project of colonization. The members of this society were frequently connected to the influential "Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement," a lay organization which defended the rights of the Church in the Courts. The Society purchased the island of Montreal and assembled some fifty or so settlers who were ready to risk their lives by settling in this territory controlled by the ferocious Iroquois, an Indian tribe allied with the protestant Dutch of Albany and New Amsterdam (today New-York).

Monsieur de La Dauversière gave the command of the colony to Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve, a young officer of lesser nobility, known for his piety and leadership qualities. Maisonneuve had served his king in several battles in Europe. He had lived a pious life in the military camps, which were not, then as now, known for their morality. Maisonneuve lived in the manner of a consecrated lay person.

His exemplary life, and his saintly reputation can perhaps make him a candidate for beatification. Be that as it may, he was a man of great character. When the governor of Québec, Monsieur de Montmagny, tried to have him abandon the idea of a settlement in Montréal, because of the Iroquois threat, he replied dryly: "I didn't come here to discuss the situation, but to carry out my orders. Should all the trees of Montréal turn into Iroquois, it is my duty on my honour to set up a colony." Maisonneuve was not the type to refuse an order coming from Heaven under the pretext of human caution. Our Lord wanted a colony in Montréal; Maisonneuve founded this colony in 1642, and christened it with the very suggestive name of Ville-Marie.

From 1642 to 1665, Ville-Marie became a type of monastic city, a model of Christian living, which was by its example to encourage the Indians to embrace the Catholic faith. This was the most religious period of New France. Two remarkable women demonstrate these heroic times: Marguerite Bourgeois, who founded the first teaching order in Canada, the Notre-Dame Congregation, and Jeanne Mance, the founder of the first hospital in Montreal, the Hotel-Dieu. In fact, all the inhabitants of VilleMarie lived exemplary lives under Monsieur de Maisonneuve's direction, a fact which impressed not only the Indians, but the French people of Québec, which had fallen, since the death of Champlain in 1635, under the not-so-Christian influence of the fur merchants. English and American-Dutch settlers also admired the moral standards of Ville-Marie.

If the Nouvelle-France was born in such a climate of faith and virtue, it is thanks to the saintly souls who consecrated their lives to the evangelization of the Indians.

To begin, let us mention the Holy Canadian Martyrs (or North-American), these eight Jesuits who became victims of the cruel Iroquois from 1642 to 1649. One shudders at the description of the agony of Fathers Brébeuf and Lalement, who were burned and butchered slowly by pagan cannibals who devoured the hearts of these martyrs to acquire their courage. One can only admire Rene Goupil, killed by the stroke of an axe, while baptising an Indian child; and Charles Garnier, killed while administering the last rites. And what about Isaac Jogues who, after having been tortured by the Iroquois, managed to escape, then returned to France and came back to America through a spirit of charity, only to undergo a second agony, this time fatal.

We must not forget the saintly mystics, such as Marie de ('Incarnation and Marie-Catherine de Saint-Augustin who were favoured with many visions of Heaven. Bossuet considered Marie de I’Incarnation as being one of the greatest mystics in the history of the Church. In her spiritual writings she describes the Holy Trinity she contemplated in a vision. 

But, the evangelization efforts in Nouvelle-France would have produced no fruits if they had not been organized by a worthy successor of the apostles, the blessed Mgr. François de Montmorency- Laval, first bishop of Québec (1659-1685). Descendant from high nobility, Mgr. de Laval could have had a comfortable ecclesiastical career in the very Catholic France of Louis XIV, but the missions attracted him, and he wanted to go to Vietnam. Providence took him to Canada, for the greater good of our country.

Mgr. de Laval overcame many difficulties. First of all, the immense size of his diocese, taking in at that time all of North America. Then there was the problem of Gallicanism which pitted Rome against Paris-as to who would control the Church of France, the pope or the king. Let us note, here, that Mgr. de Laval was named bishop directly by the pope, and not by the king as was the rule in France since the agreement of 1516. The Catholic Church of Canada was therefore, right from the outset, closely attached to the papacy. New France never knew the Gallican and Jansenistic heresies which weakend the Church of France, and in a sense prepared the revolution of 1789.

Mgr. de Laval also had to battle the fur traders who obtained the precious beaver pelts in exchange for alcohol. This trade caused a great deal of harm to the Indian population, and seriously hindered the missionaries' efforts. The colony's governor normally had a vested interest in the fur trade, and so did nothing to stop the immoral traffic. Mgr. de Laval courageously sided with the Indians against the traders. He was a sort of "Las Casas" of the north, but he unfortunately lost this battle at the same time that he lost his position as bishop. The apostle was defeated by "King Beaver."

(To be continued)