What future for Catholicism in Quebec? Its manifest disintegration observed constantly for 50 years justifies asking the question. Gathered in colloquium at the invitation of the Christian Cultural Center of Montreal, some 90 people even pushed their questions further. They asked themselves “what the most important Quebecers would lose if Catholicism disappeared in Quebec”. Because to observe the evolution of the Church, this hypothesis is not far-fetched.
Their questioning took several avenues, but, first and foremost, that of the institutional Church and its governance. A survey conducted for this conference among members of the Saint-Albert-le-Grand community, Dominicans of the same convent and students of the Pastoral Institute revealed a first fact: 87% said they wanted changes in the institution and 93%, “major” changes. But respondents are skeptical about their advent: 55% think they are “maybe” possible. It should come as no surprise: 58% declared having “a negative attitude towards the general situation of the Church as a hierarchical institution”.
A caveat is in order here. The 115 respondents to the survey are rather old (66 years old on average) and rather highly educated. They cannot claim to reflect the Catholic community of Quebec. And, unlike half of Quebecers, they are also believers in a Trinitarian God, generally committed and have a strong sense of belonging to their Christian community. Also, these characteristics, however, make their very critical opinions on the Catholic institution more paradoxical.
The participants in the conference, for their part, proposed priority courses of action. The first stands out from the others by the massive support it has received: we want to see “the effective equality of men and women in the Church”. However, the refusal to allow women to access ministerial functions was solemnly confirmed by Pope John Paul II and his successor Benedict XVI. They declared the debate closed. We are faced here with a paradox: while the same Catholics struggle like all citizens for the advent of an egalitarian society, both in civil and political society, in the Catholic Church, this struggle is not possible.
This fact confirms, in their eyes, the fundamentally clerical character of the structure of the Church. This constitutes a major obstacle to the advent of significant changes in the governance of the Church.
Moreover, on the symbolic level, the external marks of distinction in the titles, functions and clothing of the episcopal hierarchy are the sign of a Church always divided between clerics (moreover all male) and lay people. The first set the rules, the second obey them. The participants in the conference therefore made the “abandonment of the hierarchical structure” in favor of democratization their second most important resolution. In other words, in theological terms, the participants said they wanted to “return the Church to the people of God”.
The aspirations of the participants in this conference are also consistent with what the survey of members of the communities of Saint-Albert revealed. Several moreover participated in the colloquium.
They were first asked to indicate, on an increasing scale of priority from 1 to 5, what they considered to be priorities. Here are their responses:
- Grant equality of power and responsibility to men and women: 1.39 / 5
- Ensure that decisions are made democratically: 1.77 / 5
- Granting equal responsibility to lay people and clerics: 1.82 / 5
- Abolish Roman centralization in favor of local churches: 2.22 / 5
To the question “What concrete measures do you expect from the hierarchy? », Here are their answers:
- Fully welcome divorced and remarried: 87%
- Stop seeing homosexuality as a deviation: 77%
- Abolish the wealth, pompous titles and ceremonial measures of its representatives: 75%
- Make the diaconate accessible to women: 70%
- Authorize the marriage of priests: 67%
- Use the institution’s property
for the benefit of the poor or excluded: 66% - Making the priesthood accessible to women: 64%
Obviously, these scores indicate a strong consensus among these Christians. Are their points of view shared by all Quebec Catholics? In the perspective of the next synod announced by Pope Francis, these questions deserve to be asked.
These primarily institutional questions, however, did not prevent the participants from reflecting on the action of the communities and their own attitudes as believers. They have been helped in this regard by experts and witnesses of action in the Church. It is to be hoped that the proceedings of this conference will be quickly published.