When French explorers arrived on the shores of what would come to be called New France in the mid-sixteenth century, accompanying chaplains celebrated Catholic Masses of thanksgiving in the open air. This year, the Quebec government has promised to table legislation that will see public prayer banned in the province.
How is it possible that in a cradle of North American Catholicism, one that can boast a communion of canonized saints attached to its settlement, public demonstrations of religious faith—a basic right according to Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights—will soon become forbidden?
