A second pope in nearly 40 years treads the ground of the Quebec capital on Wednesday. Francis’ style, state and tone contrast with that which the young and athletic John Paul II displayed in 1984. The two popes reflect the state of their church between two eras and mark in broad strokes the emergence of a native pride long flouted by the authorities.
Upon disembarking from the plane on September 9, 1984, John Paul II, true to form, had kissed the soil of Quebec. At the time, the Polish pope was 64 – a youth, by papal standards – and his Canadian tour was themed “Celebrating Our Faith”. Catholic fervor, although already declining in Quebec, still bulged out the chest.
“Because of his young age, his dynamism, his fitness and the excellent communicator he was, he embodied the vitality of the faith,” recalls Mario Côté, former parish priest of Wendake.
A young seminarian barely 20 years old at the time, Mr. Côté had vibrated with an entire community of believers during the visit of John Paul II to Quebec. “There were something like 300,000 people on the Laval University campus to welcome him. It was a great happening, remembers the now 56-year-old priest. In Montreal, the Olympic Stadium was full of young people. Céline had even sung! It was really very festive. »
Pope John Paul II had taken advantage of this pastoral trip to stir up the faith of Quebecers, insisting, as reported The duty in 1984, on the I remember which adorns the coat of arms of Quebec.
“There are truly treasures in the memory of the Church as in the memory of a people, had launched Jean-Paul II in 1984. His successor, 38 years later, also returns to Quebec armed with a whip , but rather to flog the church and to recognize that among the treasures of its past are also several black chapters.
A church in decline
The contrast could not be starker between the two men and the two eras. Pope Francis, acknowledging his 85 years and the pain that often accompanies them, disembarks from his plane by the grace of a walker. His arched back, the wheelchair that moves him and the cane that helps him stand up contrast with the vigor of John Paul II in 1984, a seasoned and charismatic athlete.
Quebec City, he pointed out at the time, is the cradle of the Catholic faith in French America. “Here, by the seed sown in the ground, began an immense growth”, had greeted Jean-Paul II. Today, the diocese of Quebec, this “grain” once celebrated by the Polish pope, faces a class action for the sexual and physical violence committed within it. A myriad of religious congregations, accused of having abused thousands of children entrusted to his care, are also facing more than 20 class actions currently underway in Quebec.
The place of the Catholic religion in Quebec society has continued to decline since 1984. “In the early 1980s, schools were still teaching religion and children lived the sacraments in class. Today, we are completely on another planet, says priest Mario Côté. At the time, there was no talk of removing the crosses in the schools, in the hospitals or in the Blue Room. »
Religious symbols have now left the public space almost everywhere to confine themselves to the private sphere. Meanwhile, the decline of the religious is accelerating. Quebec had 12,890 10 years ago; fewer than 8,000 remained in 2020, according to the Canadian Religious Conference. A fall of 40% in 10 years which is combined with a crying lack of succession. Among the religious still alive, 49% were over 85 in 2020, and 85%, over 75.
“There is a general crisis in institutions right now, analyzes the professor at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Sciences at Laval University, Gilles Routhier. Police, judicial, political, religious – and also family – institutions suffer from it. I would say, on the other hand, that for the church, the crisis is squared. »
Women are taking their place in society and the positions of the church regarding their reproductive rights do not fit well with this feminist breath, explains Mr. Routhier. “There was also a break in the transmission when the school stopped teaching religion and this task fell to the parishes,” he continues. They quickly no longer had the means to fulfill this teaching role. »
Pope Francis, in his opinion, is the image of what “the Catholic Church is becoming” in Quebec. “Weakened, more humble and less triumphalist”, enumerates Professor Routhier. The church will certainly be “much, much poorer” too, he adds.
Indigenous emergence
As the church declined, the native peoples experienced a surge of vitality. During a parliamentary commission organized in Quebec in 1983, Liberal MP John Ciaccia painted a gloomy portrait of their living conditions in Canada.
“Only 20% of Indian children attend school until the end of the secondary level”, he launched, quoting the report published “just recently” by a special committee of the federal government. “Unemployment, meanwhile, affects about 35% of the active Indian workforce and in some cases, it reaches up to 90%,” denounced the elected representative of Mount Royal.
Today, the reality is different. Barely 28% of Aboriginal people over the age of 25 did not have a high school diploma in 2016, according to Statistics Canada, and 48% of them have a vocational diploma, college or university. . Unemployment has since fallen to 15%. Purchasing power has also increased: in 1995, the average income of Aboriginal people was less than $16,000. A decade later, it was almost $24,000. In 2015, according to Statistics Canada, the median income among the 1.6 million Indigenous people living in Canada was over $26,000. Still lagging behind the population as a whole, but nevertheless clearly progressing.
A symbol that illustrates the path traveled since this commission was held in the Salon bleu: Mary Simon, who took part in it in 1983 as a representative of the Inuit of northern Quebec, will now welcome Pope Francis to the capital as a representative of the British crown.
“The narrative is changing, maintains Gilles Routhier. There are emerging liberation movements: feminist, black, and red, as it has been named for indigenous peoples. »
The former great chief of the Huron-Wendat nation, Konrad Sioui, sums up well the change that has taken place since the visit of John Paul II. “In the early 1980s, it was a shame to be of Indian descent. We had to hide our origins at all costs. Now it’s the opposite: we claim our roots and we are proud of them. »
Shame, in 40 years, has visibly changed sides.