Hello everyone // Bonjour tout le monde!!!

It's always a pleasure to visit and contribute to Joseph's great site Chez Yankois.

Earlier this week, on the Franco-American News and Events site, I mentioned a recent article/opinion piece by journalist Konrad Yakabuski of the Toronto newpaper The Globe and Mail. The article is entitled "Neither practising nor believing, but Catholic even so" and concerns the current state of Roman Catholicism in the Province of Québec. The article discusses the obvious issue of attendance at Mass (rather low in Québec these days) but also the impact on our "patrimoine religieux" (i.e., the religious and cultural heritage in relation to Churches (the buildings) and associated works of religious art) and more profound sociological, societal and lifestyle issues (marriage, divorce, attitudes towards families and children, etc.).

There are now many (more than 200) readers' comments appended to the article, including a few that mention the past influence of the Québec-based Roman Catholic church in some areas of the United States (in particular, New England and the Midwest, where sizeable numbers of French Canadians moved in the 19th and early 20th century).

You may find reading the article and comments interesting and, who knows, you might want to contribute to the comments, i.e., post observations concerning your area of residence or origin.

I should emphasize that I am bringing this article to your attention primarily because of its sociological, historical and cultural interest, i.e., in case you are wondering, I am not trying to proselytize on behalf of the RC church...

Here is a link to Konrad Yakabuski's article, "Neither practising nor believing, but Catholic even so".

Hope you will find this article of interest...

Best regards // Amitiés!!!


Jacques