“If you have not yet begun catechesis with children and young people to prepare them for the sacraments of Christian initiation, the time is right to take a break. Let’s at least give ourselves the autumn to reflect together,” he said in a video posted online Sept. 9.

The last few months, he said, have given the Quebec Church an “unhoped-for opportunity” to “begin anew,” said Lacroix.

“Fewer and fewer of our brothers and sisters in Quebec are Christians,” he said. “This cannot leave us indifferent. It is urgent that we evangelize and form (people) to Christian life. We must realize that our methods and ways of doing things do not bear the fruits we expect.”

Lacroix said this request would surely “create a certain stir,” but he asked for “time and space” to discern the next steps to implement “the priority of formation to Christian life for adults.”

“But without this pause, we know that it will not be possible to make in-depth changes, changes that are necessary.”

The archdiocese was quick to add this was not a strict “moratorium.”

The intention is that this pause may facilitate a “transformation” in favour of “the Christian initiation of adults,” said Marie Chretien, pastoral coordinator.

This pause would not affect baptisms or marriages.

Daniel Laliberte, a former archdiocesan employee who now teaches at the Centre Jean XXIII in Luxembourg, said he was delighted with this announcement.

“Whether we like it or not, times have changed so much that the Church, confined to its practices, has seen its credibility seriously eroded, so much so that it is at odds with today’s world,” warned the professor.