Speech Presented by Bishop Gilles Cazabon, OMI,President of the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Quebec to Pope Benedict XVI on the occasion of their Ad Limina visit May 1 - 15, 2006

Communiqué de l'Assemblée des évêques catholiques du Québec
11 mai 2006 | Version française

Dear Holy Father,

It is with great joy that we find ourselves here with you today as you begin your second year as Bishop of Rome and Successor of Peter, the Apostle. We thank you for having accepted this heavy task in the “vineyard of the Lord”. Each day, with our diocesan faithful, we pray for your intentions.

The Ad Limina visit is an important event in our lives as Bishops. In praying at the tombs of the Apostles Peter and Paul, we are reminded of the connection with past generations that unite us to these “Pillars” upon which our Church is built. We are better able to listen to the Word of the Lord inviting us to be Pastors. In visiting with the Bishop of Rome who shows our Churches how to love, we rediscover the richness of our communion with the Successor of Peter.

Since our last visit in 1999, social and judicial changes have marked our Quebec society and accentuated its pluralistic and secular character, particularly in the area of Catholic education. Difficult debates were conducted on fundamental areas in our society, such as respect for life and the nature of marriage. Tensions have been felt even within our Church on certain aspects of the teachings of the Magisterium, particularly in the areas of morality and sacramental life. Numerous experiences have made us aware of the existing gulf between our Christian tradition and today's culture. It has become significant to find the means to allow us to bridge this gap and present our people with the liberating message of the Good News in all its beauty and strength.

In an effort to respond to this need, and with the concern of overriding the place of Catholic instruction soon to disappear from our public schools, we wanted to initiate a broad movement favoring faith education for youth, as well as for adults, throughout all dioceses. We have clarified strong points in a document entitled “Jésus Christ, chemin d'humanisation”.

It seemed essential that we focus on the core of our faith and centre the whole process on a true experience of Jesus Christ. Such an experience focuses on the Trinitarian God and calls the disciple to respond with concrete action. For our colleagues, concerned whether this is an authentic and personal realization, we wanted to share how Jesus Christ is the source of freedom and life - how we find in the mystery of communion, the source and means to live a full human life.

In line with this statement, we want to bring special attention to questions on fraternal charity and social justice. The quest for justice and a real commitment to help the underprivileged is at the heart of our mission as an evangelizing Church. This is also an opportunity to meet with those who do not share our Christian faith but who are driven by a deep desire for justice. In a world affected by economic policy and ideology for productivity, the Church has an important role to play in recalling those fundamental values that help humanity grow.

Nevertheless, faith is lived in community and grows from the main thrusts of community life : education, celebration and sharing. One of the essential tasks of our ministry is to encourage local communities to become communities of faith; fraternal and committed communities open and involved in the world; communities of celebration and evangelization.

We are greatly concerned that very few of our youth are involved in church organizations. They are rarely present at Sunday Mass and it is difficult to reach out to them. On the diocesan level, various initiatives have been undertaken to develop dynamic pastoral celebrations for youth.

In our region, we are also very concerned about family life situations that are in distress - vulnerable and hurting couples, a wide range of relationships between men and women, decrease in marriages, low birth rate, etc.

However, we wish to emphasize that in order to respond to these needs, we can no longer count on having an abundance of pastoral personnel or adequate financial resources. For several decades, the number of people involved in pastoral work, particularly our priests, is quickly declining and our priests are aging.

This development places us in an unprecedented situation. It is the sacramentality of our Church that is at risk. It is impossible to guarantee daily Communion or Sunday Mass in all parishes, and difficult to provide individual Sacrament of Reconciliation and the uncertainty that exists for ordained ministry. Even if a great effort is made to foster priestly vocations, the reality of our overworked priests might be a deterrent for many young people contemplating the priesthood. This situation actually calls for a reorganization of ministries - a wider sharing of tasks with deacons, pastoral agents, as well as with all members of the community who have become more conscious of their Baptismal calling and their responsibility to the Church. But such a re-organization cannot replace the priest.

Dear Holy Father, in thanksgiving for your hospitality and pastoral encouragement, we continue our journey and anticipate welcoming you in 2008 at the International Eucharistic Congress in Quebec City, along with representatives from every continent. Together, we will celebrate the mystery which is “the foundation and significance of our ministry” - the Eucharist - “gift from God for the salvation of our world”.

Msgr. Gilles Cazabon, Bishop of St. Jerome

President of the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Quebec
May 11, 2006