Canada–Holy See relations
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Although the
Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
has been territorially established in
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
since the founding of
New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spa ...
in the early 16th century, Holy See–Canada relations were only officially established during the pontificate of
Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...
in 1969. In part, this is because the
Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...
had lost its territorial sovereignty over the
Papal States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...
during the pontificate of Pope Pius IX and that territorial sovereignty over
Vatican City State Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—' * german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ') * pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—' * pt, Cidade do Vati ...
was only established by the
Lateran Treaty The Lateran Treaty ( it, Patti Lateranensi; la, Pacta Lateranensia) was one component of the Lateran Pacts of 1929, agreements between the Kingdom of Italy under King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and the Holy See under Pope Pius XI to settle ...
of 1929. Also, relations with neighbouring Italy were poor during the regime of Benito Mussolini, and they were only re-established after
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
ended in 1945. Areas of cooperation between Ottawa and Rome have traditionally included
education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...
, health care, the struggle against poverty and international
diplomacy Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. ...
. Before the establishment of the
welfare state A welfare state is a form of government in which the state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal opportunity, equita ...
, Church involvement was evident in many sectors of Canadian society. Today, Canada's international preoccupations in favor of
justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...
and
peace Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...
are often in line with those of Rome, which favors dialogue on a global level.
Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
was the first pope to visit Canada in 1984 and re-visited Canada in 1987 and 2002. In April 2022,
Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...
apologized to the Indigenous people of Canada for the role of the Catholic Church in the
Canadian Indian residential school system In Canada, the Indian residential school system was a network of boarding schools for Indigenous peoples. The network was funded by the Canadian government's Department of Indian Affairs and administered by Christian churches. The school s ...
. He said that he will visit Canada in July 2022. Pope Francis arrived in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on July 24, 2022. On Monday July 25th he visited Maskwacis and according to Grand Chief Wilton Littlechild prayed in a small chapel for children lost in the residential schools. He prayed again in the cemetery containing the graves of children who died in one of the largest residential schools in Canada. Then at a ceremony attended by many Indigenous elders he apologized in the course of the ceremony which was replete with traditional song, dance and ceremony. The Pope was given a traditional headdress by Chief Littlechild.


17th and 18th centuries

After the British conquest of 1759, relations with Rome were temporarily frozen and Jesuits were forbidden from entering the country. However, religious tolerance was quickly re-established under the 1774 Quebec Act, owing to the anti-American sentiment of colonial administrators. Before the 1774 Quebec Act, Lower Canada's remaining bishops began to die as they succumbed to old age, and new bishops and cardinals were blocked from entering by British Administrators. After the last death in 1768, the British colonial governor reversed his decision and began to allow limited numbers of Catholic Administrator to enter, paving the way for the Quebec Act 1774. As a result of the religious freedoms it granted to Catholics, Colonial Americans in the 13 colonies (because of their anti-Catholic stance) labelled it as one of the "Intolerable Acts" an influence to the start of the
American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
.


19th century

John A. Macdonald Sir John Alexander Macdonald (January 10 or 11, 1815 – June 6, 1891) was the first prime minister of Canada, serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 to 1891. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, he had a political career that sp ...
, Canada's first prime minister, is thought to have had problematic relations with the Church, as it was manifest by the anger of many Catholics against Macdonald during the
Louis Riel Louis Riel (; ; 22 October 1844 – 16 November 1885) was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political leader of the Métis people. He led two resistance movements against the Government of Canada and its first ...
affair, a conflict which had many sectarian undertones. In the 19th century,
Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...
had an apostolic delegation and did send diplomatic envoys to important socio-political events in Canada. Pope Leo took a strong interest in Canadian affairs and wrote the encyclical ''Affari Vos'' on the
Manitoba Schools Question The Manitoba Schools Question () was a political crisis in the Canadian province of Manitoba that occurred late in the 19th century, attacking publicly-funded separate schools for Roman Catholics and Protestants. The crisis was precipitated by a se ...
.


20th century

Wilfrid Laurier Sir Henri Charles Wilfrid Laurier, ( ; ; November 20, 1841 – February 17, 1919) was a Canadian lawyer, statesman, and politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Canada from 1896 to 1911. The first French Canadian prime minis ...
, Canada's first francophone prime minister, had genuinely good relations with Pope Pius X, and during his time as PM the Church went through a relatively prosperous period in terms of vocations and social influence. Pierre Trudeau, another Quebec Catholic PM, was raised as a strict Catholic, but later cooled to the institution after the publication of ''
Humanae Vitae ''Humanae vitae'' (Latin: ''Of Human Life'') is an encyclical written by Pope Paul VI and dated 25 July 1968. The text was issued at a Vatican press conference on 29 July. Subtitled ''On the Regulation of Birth'', it re-affirmed the teaching o ...
'' in 1968. After 1968, Trudeau passed a number of liberal laws on
divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...
, birth control,
adultery Adultery (from Latin ''adulterium'') is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal ...
,
homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...
and
abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...
, laws which have profoundly liberalized, modernized and secularized Canadian society. Governors General of Canada have sometimes been very Catholic.
Jules Léger Joseph Jules Léger (April 4, 1913November 22, 1980) was a Canadian diplomat and statesman who served as Governor General of Canada, the 21st since Canadian Confederation. Léger was born and educated in Quebec and France prior to starting a ca ...
was the brother of Cardinal
Paul-Émile Léger Paul-Émile Léger (April 26, 1904 – November 13, 1991) was a Canadian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Montreal from 1950 to 1967, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1953 by Pope Pius XII. Early life and ...
.
Jeanne Sauvé Jeanne Mathilde Sauvé (; April 26, 1922 – January 26, 1993) was a Canadian politician and journalist who served as Governor General of Canada, the 23rd since Canadian Confederation. Sauvé was born in Prud'homme, Saskatchewan, and educate ...
was a former member of the
Catholic Action Catholic Action is the name of groups of lay Catholics who advocate for increased Catholic influence on society. They were especially active in the nineteenth century in historically Catholic countries under anti-clerical regimes such as Spain, I ...
movement.
Georges Vanier Georges-Philias Vanier (23 April 1888 – 5 March 1967) was a Canadian military officer and diplomat who served as governor general of Canada, the first Quebecer and second Canadian-born person to hold the position. Vanier was born and ...
was a servant of God who has been proposed for
beatification Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their nam ...
. In practice, abortion was only completely legalized under the government of Conservative Catholic Brian Mulroney, who personally objected to it but could not prevent a 1988 Supreme Court decision removing all previous restrictions to the procedure.


Resident diplomatic missions

* Canada has an embassy to the Holy See in
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
.Embassy of Canada to the Holy See
/ref> * Holy See has an Apostolic Nunciature in Ottawa. File:IT-Rom-via-della-conciliazione.jpg, Embassy of Canada to the Holy See File:Papal Nuncio, Ottawa.JPG, Apostolic Nunciature in Ottawa


See also

*
Apostolic Nunciature to Canada The Apostolic Nunciature to Canada is the diplomatic mission of the Holy See to Canada. It is headed by the Apostolic Nuncio to Canada, which is both an ecclesiastical and diplomatic office, with the rank of ambassador. The Holy See first create ...


Resources

*Ciani, Adriano Ercole. "The Establishment of Diplomatic Relations Between Canada and the Holy See, 1945-1969 (MA Thesis, University of New Brunswick, 2005) {{DEFAULTSORT:Canada-Holy See relations
Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...
Bilateral relations of the Holy See