By calling for a ban on all public prayer, the Quebec government is raising “serious concerns” about a democratic society’s fundamental freedoms, said Montreal Archbishop Christian Lépine.

By doing so, it would discourage gestures fostering hope and solidarity in a world already “shaken” by so many crises — economic, social and environmental.

“At its core, to forbid public prayer would be somewhat like forbidding thought itself,” said the Archbishop.

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In an Aug. 29 opinion letter, posted to the archdiocese’s website Sept. 2, Lépine said the recent proposal goes squarely against the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Quebec’s own Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

“Prayer, in its simplest form, is an inner movement of the heart. It is a thought turned toward God who is goodness, a way of being present to the world, a search for peace,” wrote Lépine. “Recent proposals to prohibit public prayer raise serious concerns about respect for fundamental freedoms in a democratic society.”

Lépine goes on to call it an unworkable and discriminatory proposal that would “jeopardize traditions deeply rooted in Quebec,” identifying the Way of the Cross, Palm Sunday processions and the Feast of Corpus Christi among others threatened by any such law.

“These events, marked by order and dignity, are spaces of encounter,” said Lépine. “To forbid prayer in public would be to threaten their very existence.”

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He added that Pope Francis’ penitential pilgrimage to Canada in 2022, with its stop in Quebec City, may have been banned under any proposed law.

Premier Francois Legault’s Coalition Avenir Québec first called for such a ban late last year and immediately drew condemnation from many quarters, including Quebec’s bishops. Trois-Rivieres Bishop Martin Laliberte was particularly poignant in an open letter to the government where he declared, “Prayer is not dangerous.”

The government has been more vocal recently about introducing a bill to ban public prayer with the spate of mass Islamic prayer gatherings in conjunction with pro-Palestinian protests in the province, including a weekly one in the square outside of Notre Dame Basilica in Old Montreal. 

While noting the secular nature of the State ensuring institutions remain neutral in the face of diverse beliefs, it does not require the elimination of faith from public life, Lépine said.

“On the contrary, confusing State neutrality with the neutralization of society would represent a serious step backwards,” he said.

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Lépine said prayer, in public or private, “offers comfort, eases tensions, recalls the dignity of each person and inspires justice and peace.” 

“Can we afford to discourage gestures that foster hope and solidarity?”