Secularisation in Quebec

Secularisation in Quebec ABBE GERARD DION l. INTRODUCTION: CLARIFICATION OF TERMS Secularisation is a universal phenomenon which may be observed in all civilisations. It is not surprising , therefore, to find it in Quebec too. For even if our province is not a "province like the others" it still remains true that our society is not isolated from the rest of the world and from the movements which take place there. However, it is equally evident that the changes which are taking place in Quebec, both at the level of thought and at the level of institutions, are necessarily influenced by specific factors as a result of the particular social milieu in which they are found. The movement of secularisation here, therefore, is going to take forms and to follow a rhythm conditioned by the Quebec en-· vironment. This study does not aim to make a value judgment upon the beneficial or harmful consequences of secularisation. We shall simply attempt to bring to light certain manifestations of this movement without claiming to present a complete evaluation. Before dealing directly with our subject, we must clarify some of the terms we will use. There are in everyday language many expressions related to secularisation which do not cover exactly the same realities. They are sometimes used interchangeably and thus make the situation very confused. I have in mind the following expressions: secularisation; desacralisation; profanisation; laicisation; declericalisation; deconfessionalisation; All these terms have one thing in common: they all have something to do with religion. They all indicate a movement toward a greater disJournal of Canadian Studies engagement of religious factors from secular ones, toward the autonomy of the profane world. Moreover, all these terms point only to phenomena . In themselves they do not necessarily imply a doctrinal evaluation of these phenomena. Terms like secularism or laicism do. Secularism is a doctrine which strives toward a fuller realisation of secularisation considered as an ideal or as a goal to be obtained, while secularisation is simply a process of change affecting two aspects of life, the religious and the profane. Secularisation, desacralisation and profanisation do not refer to the specific problems of an institutionalized religion and are more or less synonymous. Laicisation, declericalisation and deconfessionalisation, however, imply the existence of an organized church whose organisation overlaps with the organization of institutions pursuing temporal ends. There is laicisation when a religio-temporal institution, a hospital for instance, ceases to cultivate religious ends. And there is declericalisation when a religious institution , which undertakes temporal functions, a Catholic school for instance, ceases to be administered by clergy and transfers power to Catholic laymen, while keeping its religious objectives. It is not necessary to undertake long researches to discover that secularisation, laicisation, and declericalisation do not perfectly overlap. Through Quebec's history these movements have not all been synchronized. The process of secularisation for instance has been a steady process in the evolution of civilization . Today it has acquired considerable scope, thanks to developments in science and technology . But much earlier in the past, as soon as knowledge increased, scientific explanations clarified mysteries and opened an increasingly vast field for profane management of the world. Laicisation did not have such a steady development . With the words of Christ, "Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's and to God that which is God's", Christianity brought a principle which was revolutionary for its day, that of the autonomy of the Church in relationship to the State. But it is well known that the laicisation of the State, or the idea of the neutrality of the State in religious matters, was not ac35 cepted right away. The process of laicisation of the State has known forward and backward steps since Nero, Constantine, and Charlemagne. Today the sovereigns of Great Britain, the Netherlands or Sweden must by law belong to a specific religious confession while there are no such religious requirements for the President of France or the United States (to give only examples taken from civilisations which have been influenced by Christianity) . The process of declericalisation also exhibits an uneven development. The process of declericalisation is generally associated with that of laicisation , but that is confusing, for it refers to a...