Catholicism in Canada

I was in Toronto last weekend, and I came across an article in the Globe and Mail about waning Catholicism in Quebec, the francophone province in Canada. It leaves a lot of holes regarding raw numbers.

The writer touches on how Rimouski, Quebec has been affected by the closing of parishes in the province:

Three of nine churches in the diocese of Rimouski shut down as of Jan. 1.

The remaining six churches, which used to serve three parishes, have been consolidated into a single parish.

Rimouski is actually an archdiocese, and the author fails to mention how many churches remain active in it (I think the number is somewhere around 100) . Also, I don't know what the time period was for those churches closing.

The writer mentions how the influx of immigrants to cities like Montreal has helped to keep the Catholic population thriving. It's an interesting read, but it left me wondering what the Catholic Church plans to do in the province, especially as more focus will be given to Quebec during the International Eucharistic Congress this June.

At the very least, I thought it was a decent read about Catholicism in another part of the world. We're building new churches in our diocese, and they seem to be closing theres.

Incidentally, Rimouski Oceanic of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is famous for producing future National Hockey League stars such as Vincent Lecavalier, Brad Richards and Sidney Crosby, the best in the game right now.