Montreal Archbishop Christian Lepine said
\nthe coming weeks will present a prime opportunity to learn whether there is any
\nleeway to host a public prayer event after Bill 9 became law in Quebec April 2.<\/p>\n
This act to bolster state secularism \u2014 also
\nknown as la\u00efcit\u00e9 \u2014 explicitly restricts collective prayer and other
\nreligious practices in the civil square unless municipal authorization is
\ngranted.<\/p>\n
Lepine said his team will file an application to again host an
\noutdoor candlelit procession starting from Mary Queen of the World Cathedral
\nfollowing Mass to commemorate the Feast of Corpus Christi. Approximately 4,000
\nCatholics from Montreal participate in this event each year.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
In 2026, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body
\nand Blood of Christ falls on June 4.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a very important day that gathers a
\nlot of people, so it will actually be the next test on how (the law) works,\u201d
\nsaid Lepine. \u201cWe are going to make the moves to ask for permission to do it
\nfrom the city and police. For the last 25 years, there was never a problem, but
\nwe are going to ask for it and see how it goes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hypothetically, if a written request does not
\nmake any headway because of the new restrictions spawned by the law, Lepine
\nsaid the archdiocese would seek an in-person dialogue.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf a letter does not work, then we will have
\nto meet people and talk to them,\u201d said Lepine. \u201cWhat are people afraid of? What
\nare the legitimate fears?<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you look at Article 3 of the (Universal
\nDeclaration of Human Rights) from the United Nations,\u201d continued the
\n74-year-old prelate. \u201cIt articulates together life, freedom and security.
\nFreedom, yes, not at the expense of security. But security, yes, but not at the
\nexpense of freedom. I think we have a good starting point with the declaration. Up to now, whether it’s the Canadian Constitution, the (Canadian Charter
\nof Rights and Freedoms) or the declaration, the right principles are there. We
\nwill have to go back to the basics and promote those actions. We’ll have a
\ndialogue on those specific issues.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Lepine will also be in a position to state
\nthat security issues have never arisen during any of the previous Corpus
\nChristi processions and that the archdiocese has enjoyed solid cooperation with
\nlaw enforcement.<\/p>\n
\u201cActually, the police are even glad of being
\nthere for us when we do processions,\u201d said Lepine, \u201cso I’m hopeful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Noting that the application process is more
\ncomplicated, Lepine shared that people of faith in Quebec need to learn the
\nspirit of this law through its usage.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo we want to restrain freedom of religion,
\nor is it about ensuring better security? I think to ensure better security is
\nvery legitimate, but if it’s about restraining the possibility for religion to
\nbe seen in the public square, that’s something else,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In the aftermath of the National Assembly of
\nQuebec adopting Bill 9 with a 78-26 vote on Holy Thursday, Lepine and Quebec’s bishops immediately
\nexpressed their \u201cgreat disappointment\u201d in a statement, saying they \u201care sorry
\nnot to have been heard by the government.\u201d They argued the \u201cstate is already
\nsecular and that the legislation in force until now was amply sufficient to
\nregulate religious practices in the public space,\u201d and repeated their fears
\n\u201cabout measures that limit fundamental rights without convincing
\njustification.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lepine reiterated that while the provincial
\ngovernment might be secular, society is pluralistic.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe role of the state is to be at the
\nservice of the society in these different components and beliefs,\u201d said Lepine.
\n\u201cIt’s really to be there always in the context of security and social peace,
\nbut it\u2019s still to be there at the service of the society as it is. So, in
\nsociety, there are different beliefs \u2014 whether people believe in God, or they
\ndon’t believe in God \u2014 (and) ways of seeing life.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Bill 9 also bans subsidized daycare workers
\nfrom wearing religious symbols, prohibits public institutions like hospitals
\nfrom only offering food based on a religious tradition (halal or kosher meals)
\nand phases out public subsidies for faith-based private schools over the next
\nthree years.<\/p>\n
Section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights
\nand Freedoms, the notwithstanding clause, was invoked pre-emptively to
\nsafeguard Bill 9 from constitutional challenges.<\/p>\n
(Amundson is an associate editor and writer for The Catholic Register.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Montreal Archbishop Christian Lepine said the coming weeks will present a prime opportunity to learn whether there is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":603664,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194292],"tags":[49,48,2338],"class_list":{"0":"post-603663","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-montreal","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-montreal"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=603663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603663\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/603664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=603663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=603663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=603663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}