Christians in Quebec are preparing to face a new legal context this Good Friday, barely a day after the adoption by the National Assembly of a law likely to restrict their annual processions of the Stations of the Cross.
In Montreal, several hundred people joined Archbishop Christian Lépine for a march of “prayer, reflection and silence” that will wind through the streets behind a large crucifix, stopping in front of several historic churches to commemorate the way cross of Jesus.
But this Easter weekend tradition may become more difficult to organize in the years to come, now that the province has passed a law banning public prayer.
The Quebec government passed a law Thursday extending the ban on wearing religious symbols in public workplaces to daycare employees, banning prayer rooms in public institutions and prohibiting public prayer without explicit municipal consent.
“No public road (…) nor any public park may be used for purposes of collective religious practice, unless a municipality authorizes, exceptionally and on a case-by-case basis, such use on its public domain by resolution of the municipal council,” we can read in the text of the law.
Martin Laliberté, president of the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Quebec, believes that the new law relegates religious people to the rank of second-class citizens.
He noted that street closures and public demonstrations take place all the time, including for sporting events, demonstrations and cultural events.
“If we do it for religious reasons, we no longer have the right,” he said Wednesday in an interview. People who are believers in society become second-class citizens who do not have the right, like all other citizens, to be able to experience a demonstration in a public place in the name of their faith.”
He added that organizers of the Stations of the Cross and other marches have always coordinated with local authorities and respected municipal rules, but never before had to request express permission to hold their events.
“What was a right now becomes a non-right,” underlined Mr. Laliberté.
The new law, he added, leaves churches at the mercy of the goodwill of municipal councils, which can decide whether or not to grant authorizations for the event.
Laliberté said senior Catholic officials fear the new law will go well beyond its impact on ceremonial processions.
He noted that the legislation invokes powers that allow the province to override certain sections of the Charter and protect the secularism law from legal challenges.
“We are going over it because these charters ensure the right and freedom of religion publicly,” said Mr. Laliberté.
But with the new law, people no longer have this right, he said.
“There is a complete change,” he said.
Mr. Laliberté indicated that the Catholic bishops of Quebec had participated in consultations on the new law, during which they had expressed particular concern regarding the ban on public prayer and the extension of the ban on religious symbols.
He said politicians seemed to be listening, but were not prepared to adopt these changes.
He believes that the new law is unnecessary, because the government already has all the necessary tools to protect secularism.
The Quebec government had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.
An event that attracts
John Zucchi, national director of Communion and Liberation Canada, organizer of Montreal’s Stations of the Cross procession, said organizers still communicate with police about the event, but have been told in the past that it is not necessary to inform the city.
He said that last year’s event attracted nearly 1,000 people, who walked in silence behind a person carrying a crucifix to different churches, where songs, readings of the Gospel and poems.
Unlike many religious events, attendance has increased in recent years and the number of participants has almost doubled since the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.
“I think people are touched by the sobriety of the event, by its simplicity and by the quiet dignity that surrounds it,” he said. It’s not supposed to be loud or rowdy. It’s a meditation from start to finish.”
Mr. Zucchi says he shares the views of religious leaders who are concerned about the law, but is not yet worried about its impact on the march in Montreal.
“We have only encountered good will from the City, the police services […] and we are counting on this good will in the future,” he assured.
He also questioned what would be considered a “public prayer.”
“In the case of a silent procession, what constitutes a prayer?” he asked.
