Most Reverend Christian Lépine is the tenth bishop and the eighth archbishop of Montreal since the establishment of the diocese in 1836.
Notre-Dame de la rue (Our Lady of the Street) reaches out to those in the homeless community, supporting and comforting them and providing a Church presence. Since its foundation in 2013, Fr. Claude Paradis and his assistant, Kevin, with the help of dedicated volunteers, have been going out into the streets several times each week, encountering the people in their own environment. In their activities, the primary concern of the Notre-Dame de la rue team is to offer a spiritual presence and to help people make sense of the circumstances they are living through.
The Catholic Church of Montreal does not only teach; it also opens its arms and heart to those in need. In fact, since October 2, 2017, the Archdiocese of Montreal has been welcoming asylum seekers in its new centre called “Le Pont” (The Bridge). This centre, located in the rectory of Notre-Dame-des-Victoires parish, provides shelter for people, mainly women and children, who have come here seeking a better life.
To ensure the safety and security of those to whom we bring the Gospel message, the Catholic Church of Montreal in 2016 adopted the Diocesan Pastoral Responsibility Policy, which aims to provide an environment that is healthy and safe for all, and preventing any and all forms of abuse in our interactions with the vulnerable. In the interests of fuller transparency, the policy and procedures are outlined below:
To be clear, in spiritual terms the Church lives through the Holy Spirit. Materially however, as there is nothing for the Church to sell, she must live by the donations, physical or monetary, that she receives from her Christian members. In all countries where the Church is established, the greater the number of Christians supporting the Church, the better her material circumstances. This in turn allows her to ensure the redistribution of her resources to those in need. To help her in her religious mission of salvation, we need your help! Here is how you can contribute:
The Archbishop is the shepherd of the Church in his diocese. Episcopal consecration confers on him the threefold responsibility of sanctifying, teaching and governing.
He governs his diocese with legislative, executive and judicial powers, calling on his several councils for guidance and support in the delegation of his authority. These councils consist of groups of people – members of the laity, deacons, religious men and women and priests who advise the Archbishop and assist him in making decisions of a pastoral and practical nature.
The history of the diocese is synonymous with the heritage of Montreal, the sharing of faith through this new colony. That history is intimately associated with the colonization of Nouvelle-France and the founding of Ville-Marie, because it is in this land and with those colonists that the Church of Montreal was born.
The department of archives maintains the historical documents containing the story of the Catholic Church in Montreal. These archival materials bear witness to the faith of dozens of generations of the baptized who recognized the life-giving presence of God among his people. In this section, we provide a glimpse of our collections as an overview of the services we offer. Here you will also discover the numerous resources available to you, whether you are conducting a research project or simply looking for an answer to your question.
The diocesan Offices and Services represent the people and the organizations who assist and support the Bishop in the operations of the diocese as a whole, and especially in coordinating the social action ministry and the diocese's administrative activities, as well as the management of its legal and judicial affairs.
