From DICI:
Following the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s , a movement of massive secularisation emptied the churches in Quebec. Religious weddings, however, remained common practice until recent times. But even this sacrament has suffered a huge diminution in the Belle Province, as the recent statistics published by the diocese of Valleyfield, South-West of Montreal, attest. In the diocesan newsletter Cœur et âme for January 2010, it is claimed that religious weddings have diminished by 30% in barely six years, despite the fact that nearly 80% of the population call themselves Catholics. In 2003, 344 religious weddings were celebrated; six years later, there were only 242. From year to year the trend continues: last year, in twenty-five out of the fifty-nine dioceses in Quebec, no religious weddings were recorded at all. (Source : apic – DICI n°211 du 06/03/10) (CAP note: I think there is a mistake in this statistic, and I'm still checking various articles for the more accurate figures.)
Meanwhile, French churches continue to be desecrated (click on this link for the story and photo; see also this and this) while not a few French bishops seem more interested in defending other religions. (A more complete version of Fr. Cacqueray's remarks can be found here.)
Following the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s , a movement of massive secularisation emptied the churches in Quebec. Religious weddings, however, remained common practice until recent times. But even this sacrament has suffered a huge diminution in the Belle Province, as the recent statistics published by the diocese of Valleyfield, South-West of Montreal, attest. In the diocesan newsletter Cœur et âme for January 2010, it is claimed that religious weddings have diminished by 30% in barely six years, despite the fact that nearly 80% of the population call themselves Catholics. In 2003, 344 religious weddings were celebrated; six years later, there were only 242. From year to year the trend continues: last year, in twenty-five out of the fifty-nine dioceses in Quebec, no religious weddings were recorded at all. (Source : apic – DICI n°211 du 06/03/10) (CAP note: I think there is a mistake in this statistic, and I'm still checking various articles for the more accurate figures.)
Meanwhile, French churches continue to be desecrated (click on this link for the story and photo; see also this and this) while not a few French bishops seem more interested in defending other religions. (A more complete version of Fr. Cacqueray's remarks can be found here.)
