Fr. Vaillancourt, the pastor of the Cathedral Marie-Reine-du-Monde in Montreal— Photo: Joanne Of Arc

By Joanne of Arc for Quebec Life Coalition 

Father Alain Vaillancourt, pastor of the Cathedral Marie-Reine-du-Monde in Montreal, agreed to speak with Quebec Life Coalition about March for Life.

Each year, the Cathedral encourages youth to participate in the March to promote a culture of life in Quebec.

Along with Brian Jenkins, Vice President of Quebec Life Coalition, the three of us sat down for a brief chat before attending mass at the Cathedral which was offered in support of the 40 Days for Life vigil beginning February 22, 2023.

Joanne for QLC: Brian told me that you are a frequent participant in the March for Life?

Father Alain Vaillancourt: Ah, yes, I've attended several times!

Joanne for QLC: Do you know how many Marches for Life have you participated in?

Father Alain Vaillancourt: I haven't counted them!  However, I have been going to them since I have been at the Cathedral... so for over 10 years, I must have done at least five. My goal is to go every two years.

Joanne for QLC: Why is it a priority for you to attend the March for Life? We know that priests are very busy...

Father Alain Vaillancourt: Thursday is my day off!

[We share a moment of laughter].

Joanne for QLC: Always?

Father Alain Vaillancourt: Yes!

[We continue to laugh together]  

Joanne for QLC: It's good timing then! What did you think of your last walk?

By Joanne of Arc (Quebec Life Coalition) — Photo: Promotional poster on Facebook (we have removed the communication details)

*The following article is not a promotion, rather a news article.

Conferences for “LGBTQ Catholics” were held for 6 weeks at a Catholic parish in the West-Island of Montreal.

A Montreal area parish located in the Pierrefonds borough held a conference for “LGBTQ Catholics” for 6 consecutive Monday evenings from October 24th to November 28th. The conferences were announced through their newsletter and organized by Cathie Macaulay, a parishioner and responsible for PHC: Pastoral Home Care at the diocese of Montreal.

According to an exchange with madam Macaulay, the program is built upon the book “Building A Bridge: How the Catholic Church and the LGBT Community Can Enter into a Relationship of Respect, Compassion, and Sensitivity” by Fr. James Martin, a Jesuit priest.

In her YouTube video promoting the conferences, found on St-Luke's YouTube channel, Cathie Macaulay called the conferences an “adult faith formation program” and affirmed that “the focus of this program is how to build a bridge between the LGBTQ community and the Catholic church”.

She added: “The discussion group will explore how we can live relationships with LGBTQ Catholics with people in our family, workplace, community and people in our Parish with respect, compassion and sensitivity as we are asked to do in the Catechism of the Catholic Church”

She concluded by saying that: “Questions about sexual identity and gender identity abound in our culture” and “We can all learn more about one another and by listening more to our LGBTQ brothers and sisters”.

Cathie Macaulay can be seen promoting the conferences at St Luke’s parish on the parish YouTube channel under "unlisted":

The launch of Coeurage & Laura Albo at her conference at St.Ignatius of Loyola Parish -- Photos :Joanne Of Arc

By Joanne of Arc for Quebec Life Coalition

''Coeurage'' is a lay "reproductive loss grief care" and support program for those who have lost a young child to abortion, miscarriage or death, which was launched by Laura Albo on Nov. 24 at St. Ignatius of Loyola Parish.

“I went through reproductive losses, abortion & miscarriages. I was once feeling hopeless & not in the best state of my life. I think that I didn’t grieve as I should have grieved, and this messed with my way of life and relationships. I think that every woman who is out there and who may be feeling this kind of hopelessness or who is in that state, they should know that there is a chance to recover from that. So that is why I am here” said Laura when asked by QLC about her motivation for starting her ministry.

When speaking about the name of her ministry Laura explained “Coeurage is not misspelled. I believe you are never too old to bring your heart back together” [In French, the name Coeurage is a word play for heart & courage].

Laura Albo is the coordinator of ''BRAVE'', the Grief and Loss support programs offered at Options pregnancy center. Amongst these Coeurage is her own program, which she has been working on since, before the pandemic, when she was a volunteer at QLC along with the president of the organization, Georges Buscemi.

Prior to her current occupation, Laura was a teacher and has been teaching for 11 years in Mexico. She has taught at every level from daycare to university. Furthermore, as presented on her webpage, she has a Masters degree in Special Education, Psychopedagogical Intervention in Educational Contexts and Intervention in Learning Disabilities, as well as a Masters degree in Neuropsychology and Education.

Laura has been working for a long time with people who lost one or more children prior to launching Coeurage and this cause has been close to her heart because she personally had an abortion and two miscarriages. This post-abortion program has been years in the making (since 2018). Today, her goal is to make sure women or anyone who went through an abortion experience have a safe space to talk about and heal through their grief to find hope again after this great loss.

By Joanne of Arc for Quebec Life Coalition — Photo : Unsplash: Parade/Wikipedia: Barbada

A transvestite will be present as the ''Star Fairy'' at this year's Montreal Santa Claus Parade.

After two years of cancellation due to the pandemic, Barbada, a transvestite, will be present at the Santa Claus Parade on St-Catherine Street in the Quartier des spectacles, on November 19th, starting at 11 am. The event is organized by Montréal Centre-Ville, a non-profit organization with nearly 5,000 member businesses.

This year marks the 70th edition of the Santa Claus Parade, but it is the first time that a transvestite will participate in it. According to the Montreal Downtown website, this is an annual tradition for more than 400,000 spectators, and the event will also be aired on the TVA network on Sunday, November 20th at 4 p.m. According to organizers, this is the largest holiday event in Quebec.

"The Santa Claus Parade is a great family tradition that has been going on for 70 years in downtown Montreal. It inaugurates the winter season, which we hope will be just as exceptional as the summer we just had. Whether it's to welcome Santa Claus, spend a holiday with family, gather with colleagues or start holiday shopping, downtown is still the place to be for all Quebecers," said Glenn Castanheira, Executive Director of Montréal Centre-Ville.

Since the announcement of drag queen Barbada's participation in the Montreal Santa Claus parade on November 19th downtown, the outrage was evident on social networks and is spreading, according to Frédérique de Simone of the Journal de Montréal.

By Joanne of Arc for Quebec Life Coalition — Photo : Unsplash

A nurse at the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal informed Quebec Life Coalition that late-term abortions, i.e. at 21 weeks gestation or more, are performed on a "weekly" basis at this famous Montreal hospital. 

According to the hospital's website, the hospital was founded in 1934 and is considered a teaching hospital that is one of the largest and busiest acute care hospitals in the province. 

A nurse at the hospital, who wishes to remain anonymous, contacted us after realizing that an abortion had taken place in her workplace at 24 weeks of pregnancy for the eugenic reason of having Down syndrome.  

"I work at the Jewish General Hospital as a nurse. Last week, I discovered that there was a woman 24 weeks pregnant with a child with Down syndrome who was in the case room for a "therapeutic abortion". I was devastated to see such a late-term abortion take place at my workplace. Because I was so upset, I asked Brian [Vice President of Quebec Life Coalition - ed.] to pray for this child and his mother. Unfortunately, the abortion took place and I still pray that the woman will realize the atrocity that happened and seek healing through God's mercy" shares the nurse.  

"I saw another "therapeutic abortion" on the schedule this week at 33 weeks, it happened again, I never realized before how often they take place" - Photo: Unsplash

She adds, "I had heard before that abortions take place at the hospital where I work, obviously, but for the most part I was under the impression that they take place at a less advanced stage, at less weeks, not to say it's better, but the procedure is much less complicated at less weeks. I thought the hospital did them up to 8 weeks, but I learned through a colleague that late-stage abortions also take place in the case room and that we have to respect that..." 

She also sadly added, "I saw another therapeutic abortion on the schedule this week at 33 weeks, it happened again, I never realized previously how often they happen." 

After our interview, the nurse reported to me that according to her co-worker, these "procedures" occur on a weekly basis.  

She concluded, "What I find frightening is that this child was aborted at 24 weeks at the hospital where I work while we have an excellent intensive care unit and we have so many babies at 24 or 27 weeks who are living because of this intensive care that we provide! So it's stupefying. If the patient wants to keep the baby, we do everything we can to keep the baby alive. We put it in an incubator, we give it oxygen and even a tube to feed it. We do so many interventions because the mother wants to keep the child. But, if the mother suddenly decides she wants an abortion (at 21 weeks or more), that's what we end up doing. "

Samuel David at 9 months old with the 3 other children and his family

By Joanne of Arc (Quebec Life Coalition) - Photo: Catherina David

Catherina David is a stay at home mom of four kids who contacted us to share the beautiful testimony of her youngest child, Samuel David. She reached out to us at first for prayer and support on her pregnancy journey. Today, she wants to share with us, in detail, how her story unveiled. She discovered she was pregnant at almost 9 weeks into her pregnancy while she was moving from Quebec to Ontario.

She was very excited and happy about her new pregnancy initially. Her doctor asked her to do an additional test when she was 5 months pregnant, through which she learned that her baby had trisomy 21 (Down syndrome).

After having delivered three perfectly healthy children, it was certainly a big shock to her. She admits that she was devastated and didn't know how to react. She cried the whole day when she found out the news, and then the whole week after it.

When she met with her doctor after learning the news, he said to her “I leave it up to you whether you want to keep the baby, if you want to continue the pregnancy or if you want to terminate it we will make it as easy as possible for you, but you will have to go to the hospital and have a regular childbirth delivery”.

She went to the Jewish General hospital for the abortion, before she decided to change her mind and keep the baby. Catherina, was guided by her faith and a dream she believes was from God that helped her resist the temptation to end the life of her child.

Michael and Barbara, participants of the Vigil 365 - Photo: Joanne of Arc

By Joanne of Arc for Quebec Life Coalition

We hear a lot about the importance of creating good habits for a healthy and balanced life, such as taking a walk, eating well or going to bed at the same time. For most of us, we put a lot of effort into having a better quality of life. But how many people really care about life? I am referring to life at one of its most vulnerable stages: at the moment of conception.

Every morning of the year, a Vigil is held near the Berri-UQAM metro station. It was initiated in February 2020 by its organizer Brian Jenkins. People meet to pray for life and honor the unborn. In this case, it is not just a weekly good habit, but an important discipline in their spiritual lives.

In addition to praying together, the participants of the Vigil are often approached for a discussion. Sometimes, the people that are passing by are open-minded and want to understand what the participants are saying, at other times the discussions are rather difficult or even turn into personal accusations.

I had the opportunity to attend Vigil 365 and observe the interactions that took place during one morning this week. The participants also took a moment to chat with me and explain their motivations.

Michael attends the Vigil because he believes abortion is a grave injustice. He shared this with me: "There are many injustices that take place around the world, but most of them don't happen where I live. So this is something I can and should be involved in where I live. "

As to why the group chose this hectic location to pray, he tells me, "This corner we're on is kind of a contradiction in itself. There is an abortion clinic at the end of this street, around the other corner is UQAM University which is one of the most liberal universities in Montreal, and on the other side is the gay village which promotes promiscuity."

Ironically, there is also the beautiful Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes chapel in front of the UQAM University building, adorned with a golden statue of the Virgin Mary, which is in the center of all this activity.

By Joanne of Arc (Quebec Life Coalition) - Photo: Google/Facebook

CTV News shares the sad story of a 66-year-old Lachine man who asked his doctor for "medical assistance in dying", or assisted suicide, due to the lack of care from his Local community services centres (CLSC) in the Dorval-Lachine borough.

Jacques Comeau is a retired art therapist who suffers from quadriplegia and uses a wheelchair. His disease is a paralysis that affects more or less all four limbs of the body (arms and legs). It involves the loss of muscular functions and sensations, to a variable degree, of the affected limbs. Despite his condition, Mr. Comeau is an independent and active man in the community. He drives, runs his own errands, volunteers and paints in his spare time, according to the CTV News report.

In addition, until now, Mr. Comeau had access to health care at home that had allowed him to live a full and happy life. Unfortunately, this summer, his local health center (CLSC) underwent changes that have had a serious impact on Comeau's daily life. He needs the assistance of caregivers who come 3 times a week to help him clear his bowel. However, for the past month, Mr. Comeau has been experiencing difficulties with the new caregivers, who are unfamiliar with his body and care for him incorrectly, causing him to have bowel accidents at unexpected times of the day. As a result, he can no longer function as he used to because he is constantly preoccupied with his accidents.

Mr. Comeau's case is obviously serious, but why did he rush to assisted suicide? It is because it is an option available to him. It seems that Mr. Comeau's problems, which have only been going on for a month, could be solved in ways other than by a hasty death. Moreover, if he opts for euthanasia, there may be no change in the health care system in Quebec.

In the same vein, might this man be suffering from depression because of the discomforts he has been experiencing for the past month and which would lead him to this drastic decision? Or could it be that he was influenced by the discussion he had with his doctor? If this is a case of a man who is otherwise active, but chooses assisted suicide, we are witnessing a society that is not solving the core problem: that of having a better health service.

The Life Chain, a pro-life demonstration organized in Montreal on Sunday, October 2nd near the Namur metro station.

By Joanne of Arc (Quebec Life Coalition) - Photo: Joanne of Arc

On Sunday afternoon, October 2nd, Quebec Life Coalition organized an annual event called the Life Chain.

Each year, on the first Sunday of October, pro-life activists gather to form anti-abortion prayer chains in Canada and the United States. Their goal is to share a message in support of the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death. In Montreal, the Life Chain has been organized since 1991, while in the United States it began in 1987. In 1990, Campaign Life Coalition began this activity in Canada.

Sunday's demonstration in Montreal took place near the Namur metro station, at the corner of Décarie Boulevard and Jean-Talon Street. On that sunny day, the group numbered about 20 people, both men and women, holding signs with messages in French and English such as:

• "Abortion kills children"
• "Yes to adoption"
• "Jesus forgives and heals"
• "Pray for an end to abortion"

By Joanne of Arc (Quebec Life Coalition) - Photo: Joanne of Arc

In Montreal, on Wednesday, September 28, there was an exclusive screening of the film "CHSLD - Je me souviens" [LTC Homes – I remember] directed by Sylvain Laforest, about the 6,700 victims in Private senior's residence (RPA) who were seriously affected from spring 2020 to spring 2021.

People finally met in a resto-bar to discuss, eat and drink, regardless of their vaccination status. After two years of terror and trauma imposed by the government during the state of emergency created during the pandemic, the "Macarons de la Dignité" group facilitated a memorable gathering that allowed people to remember the elders who were brutally mistreated during the confinement periods imposed during the pandemic.

The magnitude of what happened to the elderly, who were in a capacity deficit in our society during this time of crisis, requires an independent commission of inquiry. The documentary brings to light through several testimonies the abominable way in which people at the end of their lives were treated in Long Term Care Homes (homes for the aged).

To go into detail, although it is difficult to share, the seniors in the LTC Homes were denied water for 10 days so that they would not fill their diapers. Then they were denied vitamins C and D. Finally, they were neglected when their mouths were full of vomit and their diapers were full. The nursing homes floors were empty of staff members and those who were present were overwhelmed with their responsibilities. Many of the decisions that were made under these circumstances lacked empathy and humanity towards the residents.

For example, one account in the documentary tells us of a senior who was locked in his room with several padlocks placed on his door, as if he was an animal in a cage. The elder in question resisted with all his physical abilities and destroyed the padlocks by forcing them. Imposing all this for the sake of public health and safety?

What about the mental health of the residents of these centers? They could not even walk to get some fresh air, see or touch their loved ones, and the only activity they were allowed was to watch television, which did nothing but talk about the virus and spread fear 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

In the documentary, retired professor, ex-psychologist and author Lucie Mandeville talks about this fear. Fear is one of the strongest emotions in human beings that will create traumas in the individual. People at the end of their lives in LTC Homes have not only been neglected, but traumatized. These are serious consequences to which we have turned a blind eye.