NEW PRIMATE OF CANADA CALLS FOR RE-AWAKENING OF CONSCIENCES AND FAITH IN QUEBEC

QUEBEC CITY, February 14, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Archbishop Marc Ouellette, newly appointed to the Catholic Archdiocese of Quebec City, spoke about Quebec’s negligible birthrate and the crisis of faith in his inaugural homily as Archbishop on January 26.  Archbishop Ouellette holds the title of Primate of Canada since his diocese is the oldest in Canada – and in fact North America (apart from the Diocese of Mexico).  Luc Gagnon, President of Campaigne Quebec Vie (Campaign Life Quebec) told LifeSite he has been most impressed with the calibre of Archbishop Ouellette.  “This marks a new era in the history of the Church in Quebec,” said Gagnon.  A portion of the Primate’s inaugural homily follows:  “The time is short; it is time to reawaken consciences and the decision of faith. Quebec languishes far from the values that were the strength and glory of her ancestors. The just desire for cultural survival runs up dramatically against our negligible birthrate and the catastrophe of teen suicide. These incomprehensible suicides tear us apart and alarm us about the situation of the families and the values that should give meaning to our life. Aren’t these signs of the most serious impoverishment which strikes at Quebec society: the forgetting of its spiritual heritage… The preservation of our cultural inheritance is a well recognized priority, but how much is it necessary to ensure education in the spiritual virtues and attitudes which form the souls and the destiny of a people! … It is not too late to seek together, as pastors and faithful, as citizens, the means of regenerating the Christian culture which shaped Quebec of yesterday and today.”  (translation by Mark Cameron www.markcameron.blogspot.com )  See the full homily online (in French) at:  https://www.diocesequebec.qc.ca/actualite/homelie_inaugurale__de_mgr_marc_ouellet.htm