OTTAWA - In pursuit of a secular state, Quebec is wrong to limit religious freedom, said the president of Quebec’s assembly of bishops after the province tabled a controversial bill that will bar many provincial employees from wearing religious clothing and symbols on the job.

Canada’s Jesuits are tweaking their sexual abuse policy less than three years after their last update, but as they do so they’re matching their policy with prayer.

Five Montreal-area dioceses have hired a retired judge to examine seven decades of archival files to shed light on credible reports of sexual abuse by clergy that have been kept silent.

MONTREAL – Father Claude Grou, the rector of St. Joseph's Oratory of Mount Royal who was stabbed during a Mass March 22, has been released from the hospital.

QUEBEC – The apostolic nunciature in Ottawa, Ontario, confirmed Feb. 26 that it received a first complaint of sexual misconduct concerning Archbishop Luigi Ventura, the Vatican's ambassador to Canada from 2001 to 2009.

QUEBEC CITY – The Catholic Church should not be afraid of crisis; through crisis, it will grow and spring new life, said Dominican Father Timothy Radcliffe.

OTTAWA – On Guy Desrochers’ 24th birthday, his mother gave him a Bible.

QUEBEC CITY – In the province of Quebec, one of the most secular societies in the world, debates around Christmas carols are not so much about faith and religion as they are about culture. A choir and sacred music specialist believes these carols remain beloved because people especially preserve the emotion associated with them.

QUEBEC CITY – Churches of the Archdiocese of Sherbrooke will join those of other churches across Canada and ring their bells 100 times Nov. 11 to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I.

The new Quebec government’s proposed assault on religious freedom by barring public wearing of overt faith markers is worrisome enough.

The victory of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) in the recent Quebec election reflects the growing acceptance of political parties vowing to tighten immigration policies and numbers. 

OTTAWA – A proposed law by Quebec’s new government that would ban religious symbols is a clear violation of fundamental rights, said Montreal’s archbishop and Canada’s former Ambassador of Religious Freedom.

It was eight years ago this week that Canada’s Br. André Bessette was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI. The humble Holy Cross brother who was instrumental in the construction of St. Joseph’s Oratory in Montreal died Jan. 6, 1937 at the age of 91. Over his remarkable life and in the years since, he has been credited with many miraculous healings. During the six days after his death, up to a million people filed past his coffin, surrounded by hundreds of crutches and canes from pilgrims who attested to his gifts. Here is an excerpt from The Register of Jan. 21, 1937:

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MONTREAL – The re-introduction of sex education into Quebec schools goes against fundamental rights of parents, says the president of the Association of Catholic Parents of Quebec.

QUEBEC CITY – St. Marie de l’Incarnation, a French Ursuline nun sent to establish the order in New France in the 17th century, has not yet delivered all her secrets.