Cardinal Marc Ouellet speaks on Quebec's spiritual patrimony an interview.

Rome--In a December 11, 2003 interview with Zenit news agency of Rome, Cardinal Marc Ouellet of Quebec City admitted that pastoral work will be a new experience for him, in a province where, in his words, "Many of my brothers and sisters in the faith have lost knowledge of their own faith; they don't practise anymore, and they even have lost their memory of that faith." In the schools, "history does not have a big place and even religion has lost its importance."

The Catholic faith used to permeate all facets of French-Canadian society until about 40 years ago, when Catholicism collapsed amidst the turbulent Sixties. Cardinal Ouellet maintains that if Catholicism disappears completely in Quebec, French culture will not survive.

The Archbishop sees four areas where the faith must be handed on to future generations: through the renewal of family life; through marriage as the foundation of the family and of society; through the school system; and in the parish community. He recognizes that the school is not giving a real catechesis (Editor: Quebec's Catholic public schools were abolished in 2001 and today's general public schools do not teach religion)

One of the first steps that Cardinal Ouellet took was to call the youth of the province to join him in celebrating the spirit of World Youth Day. Seven hundred young people answered his call and joined him at the Quebec cathedral for Mass and catechesis. He then challenged the youth to join him and a number of priests in a 14 km pilgrimage in August to the shrine of St. Anne de Beaupre, where Mass and catechesis were offered, and confession was made available. Again, more than 500 of them accepted the challenge.

The Cardinal acknowledged the difference between Quebec and the United States where the culture, he said, "is one of individual initiative and where Catholics have to fight for their own faith, living in a kind of supermarket of different beliefs. In Quebec we had a Christian and a Catholic society; everything was given and we took it for granted, and all of a sudden everything fell apart." Everything was secularized--institutes, hospitals, trade unions, schools, during the last 30 years. "Now we start to really react against it because if we allow this process to continue we will also disappear as a nation".

"Christianity was also part of our cultural identity. If it disappears we won't survive as a culture that is French, that has its precise historical configuration. I hope that there will be a re-awakening of our spiritual patrimony."

To the question whether the French population is mostly Catholic whereas the English-speaking population is mostly Protestant, the Cardinal corrected this (ancient) image by noting that today Catholics in Canada are widespread throughout the whole country, though he thought that "probably the majority of Catholics are still in Quebec."

The Cardinal expressed hopes that the "republican and secular spirit that has taken over in the French culture" and its accompanying anti-Church and anti-Roman prejudices, might be softened, noting that the beatification of Mother Teresa and the 25th anniversary of John Paul II as Pope in October, 2003, had received favourable press coverage in Quebec.

The Cardinal also thought that the motto he had chosen as bishop Ut unum sint [That they all may be one] might be applicable in his work because unity at the local level is necessary to maintain one's identity. "It is not just to have the same ideas about politics or social justice; it is a share in the heart of the mystery of God and this is the truth of every single parish community."

The family

The Cardinal noted that this unity starts in the family. "Yes, today we face not just a moral crisis but an anthropological one as well. We are losing the sense of the difference between man and woman, the complementarity of the sexes. The culture is trying to suppress the difference of sexes as if being a woman or a man makes no difference."

So the Church "is reminding the world that the difference between the sexes is important, even fundamental, and that it belongs to the vocation of man to image God, to give a reflection of the mystery of God--because in the divine Persons you have equality but you have also difference. The Father is the Father and the Son is absolutely not the Father and vice versa; and the Spirit is completely different from the Father and the Son, but they are God together. (Editor: three Persons, one nature.) There would be no God without the difference of the divine Persons in the unity of love."

"We are created in the image of God. So it is very important to be created as a man or a woman, and these are not the same. If we want a true humanity, we need to accept the difference and to live out the difference in a love which is open to a third. That is the mystery of God.

"We live in a critical moment for anthropology but we have a wonderful opportunity to announce the deepest part of the mystery of God, which is Trinitarian love and which is inherent in the mystery of love between a man and a woman and their child."

Editor's Comment

One notes that the Cardinal identifies Catholicism as part of Quebec's cultural identity and even with Quebec's survival "as a nation." Pope John Paul II also identifies Christianity as the necessary quality which prevents societies everwhere from falling into corruption, deception and tyranny.

As for today's numerical strength of French-speaking and English-speaking Catholics in Canada, it may be noted that over the last 25 years the majority of immigrants, including those who are Catholic, have gone to English-speaking Canada. Today, Toronto alone attracts 60% of all immigrants. Many immigrants from Asia and Africa are Catholics, some seeking refuge from persecution; others come from the Caribbean islands, or from Hong Kong where they were taught in Catholic schools. Even immigrants from South America choose English Canada above Quebec. Consequently, it may be assumed that today Catholics in English Canada are more numerous than those in French-speaking areas.

Cardinal Marc Ouellet was ordained bishop in Rome in 2001, appointed Archbishop of Quebec City in 2002, and made a Cardinal in 2003.