OTTAWA -- Lawyers challenging Bill 21, Quebec’s so-called secularism law, are arguing that because the law disproportionately targets women the provincial government cannot use the notwithstanding clause to shield it from any challenge.

MONTREAL -- The Quebec government took religious leaders by surprise by announcing Sept. 20 that the maximum number of people allowed to participate in an event in a place of worship would be lowered from 250 to 50 in all regions of the province, starting Sept. 21.

MONTREAL -- About 40 years ago, Raymonde Gauthier found a PhD topic by glancing out the window of her small apartment at the corner of Montreal’s St. Laurent Boulevard and Sherbrooke Street.

The federal government’s decision to appeal a court ruling that puts an international refugee agreement with the United States at risk is disappointing but not surprising to refugee advocacy and church groups that have long sought to have the Safe Third Country Agreement scuttled.

MONTREAL -- Two Antonian nuns from Chicoutimi, a borough of Saguenay, have died of COVID-19.

MONTREAL -- The bishops of Quebec have taken the unprecedented step of suspending all celebrations and events in churches across the province.

QUEBEC CITY -- Complaining that current courses place “too much emphasis on religion,” Quebec is set to eliminate its Ethics and Religious Culture curriculum, according to the province’s education minister.

In the week when the Quebec government announced cancellation of the last substantial religious element of provincial school curriculum, Concordia University’s Catholic Students Association was reaching out to those starting the winter term.

QUEBEC CITY -- The government of Quebec is about to eliminate its Ethics and Religious Culture curriculum, which replaced catechesis in schools in 2008.

A second attempt to have the anti-religious symbols provisions of Quebec’s controversial Bill 21 suspended until court challenges to the legality of the bill are determined has failed.

QUEBEC CITY -- The great doorway to growing in the Christian faith is narrowing from year to year in Quebec as baptisms have significantly declined since 2012 and there’s no indication the trend will reverse.

QUEBEC CITY -- Many experts fear new Quebec government legislation on education will further diminish religion and spirituality from the province’s schools.

OTTAWA -- A Quebec court decision that strikes down key safeguards in Canada’s euthanasia law points to an urgent need to provide opportunities and care for vulnerable and disabled people, said euthanasia opponents who called the ruling “terrible news.”

The death of a retired Quebec Superior Judge will postpone the audit of allegations of sexual abuse against minors in the Montreal archdiocese and several other Quebec dioceses.

OTTAWA -- In the face of surveys showing declining numbers of believers and church-goers, Cardinal Gérald Lacroix says Canada’s Catholic shrines should offer more direct preaching of the Gospel to encourage a personal relationship with Christ.