At Montreal's Loyola High School, mission trumps government funds

Montreal's Loyola High School has opted to protect its 130-year-old Jesuit Catholic identity by forgoing provincial government subsidies starting in 2029 and becoming an independent school.

Beginning that year, due to the passage of Bill 9 last spring, any institution accepting this funding — public and faith-based alike — is forced to comply with Quebec’s secular policy by banning prayer spaces, faith practices during school hours and religious symbols.

Fouad Maroun, the school’s president, and Patrick M. Shea, the board chair, revealed this decision to students, parents, staff and other stakeholders earlier this month. A public information session was hosted Sept. 16 at the school. 

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School leadership declined all media requests until after the question-and-answer event for the school community.

In the Sept. 4 statement, Maroun and Shea said they kept reflecting on what the school stands for as they determined the path ahead. Along with feedback from a 1,500-participant community survey, it was clear to them that mission must trump subsidy.

“The answer has not changed since 1896: to form young people who are intellectually competent, open to growth, religious, loving and committed to doing justice, in an education where faith is not only a classroom subject but also woven through the entire school day,” they wrote. “It is what so many of you told us must never be abandoned.”

They acknowledged that opting out of the subsidy means student costs will increase by at least $7,500, from $12,530 to $20,000-$21,000, which remains “meaningfully less expensive than comparable independent schools in Montreal.”

A capital campaign is in the works to help ensure that a “financially independent Loyola does not become a school that only some families can afford.” And with the “higher ceiling on full tuition, we fully anticipate that significantly more families, including middle-income families who may not have previously qualified, will qualify for financial assistance,” stated the school in a supplementary Q&A document.

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Fifteen per cent of Loyola families qualify for aid at the current registration costs.

Over 750 students are enrolled in Loyola High School, and the student applicant pool is expected to expand once the institution becomes fully independent.

“For the first time in decades, we will be able to welcome any qualified student who shares Loyola’s values, whether or not he or she holds a certificate of English-language eligibility.”

Montreal Archbishop Christian Lépine shared in a statement to the Register that he will “remain attentive to the concerns expressed by the Loyola community and assure them of my closeness and prayers.”

He said the current situation “invites us to reflect deeply on the place we wish to give, in a pluralistic society such as ours, to religious freedom and to the ability of faith-based institutions to live out their mission fully.”

Lépine calls for these questions to be approached “with prudence, respect and a genuine commitment to the common good. The secular nature of the state and respect for religious convictions should not be understood as opposing realities; rather, they can and should coexist within a spirit of respectful dialogue, mutual understanding and service to the common good.”

He wrote that additional clarity could arise from the Supreme Court of Canada’s forthcoming ruling on Bill 21, an act respecting the laicity of the State, as it, akin to Bill 9, influences the evolving discussion of secularity and religious freedom’s coexistence.

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When the case was argued in a marathon four-day hearing before the highest court in late March, much of the discussion centred on the Quebec government’s decision to use the notwithstanding clause (Section 33) to override Charter rights to ensure enactment of its ban on public employees wearing religious symbols.

Visit loyola.ca to read the full release from Loyola High School.

(Amundson is an associate editor and writer for The Catholic Register.)