Learning to Live with Religious Diversity in Québec

On the bulletin board in front of Mr. Saint-Michel’s office, at least a dozen fliers for confessional groups have been posted. There is something for every belief.

Does the increase in religious groups at Université Laval in the city of Québec signal renewed religiosity?

“Not exactly,” answers Guy Saint-Michel, coordinator of the Bureau d’animation religieuse. “I’m not seeing a return to religious practice in terms of the number of observers. But I am seeing that people are more comfortable talking about their religious beliefs.”

On the bulletin board in front of Mr. Saint-Michel’s office, at least a dozen fliers for confessional groups have been posted. There is something for every belief. A booklet for Campus pour le Christ is pinned beside one for the Comité islamo-crétien; a leaflet for the Cercle Gandhi is a few centimetres away from one for the Communauté copte orthodoxe. There are even fliers for little known groups like Daara Kanzul Moukhtadine (a Sufi-based Muslim brotherhood), the Groupe chrétien(ne)s homosexuel(le)s and the Groupe biblique étudiant(e)s en action (an Evangelical group).

“In 1980, whenever I introduced myself as a pastoral animator, the reaction was chilly,” recalls Mr. Saint-Michel. “But in the last five or six years, it’s been the opposite. I should point out that, while the Catholic community has remained fairly stable, other religious groups like Protestant Evangelists and Muslims have grown tremendously. For many foreign students, participating in these spiritual activities is a way of breaking the isolation.”

Charlotte Habegger-Polomat is a doctoral student in biochemistry at Université Laval and a mother of two. As a child, she learned about the Bahá’í faith. “I was born in Indiana to a Bahá’í family. When I was seven, my parents moved to Martinique to live out their faith. They were pioneers, in a sense,” she explains. Ms. Habegger-Polomat is now the coordinator of the Association d’études baha’ies de l’Université Laval (AEBUL). She revived the association in the fall of 2003; founded in 1976, it had fallen inactive in 1991.

“We are working towards the unity of races and religions”

“The goal is not to convert, but to talk with people. We are working towards the unity of races and religions and it’s encouraging to see the number of believers increasing,” she says.

Few people know much about this relatively new religion, founded in Iran in the mid-19th century. Some think, wrongly, that it is a sect of Islam. Since 1948, the Bahá’í International Community has been recognized as a non-governmental organization by the United Nations. It has consultative status with such prestigious organizations as UNICEF. The followers of Bahá’u’lláh are proud to proclaim that theirs is “the second-most widespread faith, surpassing every religion but Christianity in its geographic reach. It has more than five million members representing 2,100 ethnic and tribal groups living in over 190 countries and 46 dependent territories or overseas departments. (…) Its writings have been translated into more than 800 languages", according to the Bahá’í 's Websites.

Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Bahá’í faith, set out the principles of this belief. They include recognition of the unity of God and his prophets, the elimination of prejudice, the reconciliation of science and religion, and equality between men and women. The Bahá’í faith encourages each individual to seek unfettered truth.

In 1844, according to the Bahá’í's Websites, the Báb, who is viewed as a Messenger of God, announced the imminent coming of a Messiah. The message was not well received, and he was executed six years later. In 1863, Mirza Husayn Ali (Bahá’u’lláh) heard the call of the Báb and accepted his task as “Universal Promised One.” This was followed by forty years of exile in Baghdad, Constantinople and Adrianople. One of his descendants, Shoghi Effendi, was later named “Guardian of the Faith.” He organized the Bahá’í Administrative Order as we know it today. Since 1963, the activities of the global community have been guided by the Universal House of Justice, a college of nine people.

In Canada, it is estimated that the movement has 25,000 followers. For the most part, they are concentrated in the major urban centres like Montréal and Vancouver. In the city of Québec, there are around a hundred, of whom twelve (six professors and six students) are members of AEBUL.

Under a bleak January sky, the Bahá’ís of Québec are holding their bi-monthly meeting. The meeting is attended by only three people. They busy themselves sewing blankets, which will subsequently be distributed to sick children at the Centre hospitalier de l’Université Laval (CHUL).

Living one’s religion freely

In addition to the coordinator, Charlotte Habegger-Polomat, two other Bahá’ís are present: Payman Fozi, who is studying pharmacy, and Alexandra Leduc, who is studying biochemistry. Like Charlotte, both are 22 years old and discovered the Bahá’í faith at a young age. Alexandra’s mother, who was pretty much an atheist, moved from Montréal to Gaspé in 1987. There, one of her friends introduced her to its teachings, which appealed to her.

“What my mother liked was being able to live her religion without having to report to anyone,” explains Alexandra. Although she doesn’t proclaim her beliefs from the rooftops, she finds her fellow citizens to be open-minded and curious. “In talking with a friend, I even found out that a teacher had told them about this religion in secondary school,” she says.

Payman Fozi is of Iranian descent. He is proud that the Bahá’í faith is strongly entrenched in his family. “On my father’s side, we have been Bahá’ís for five generations. On my mother’s side, for four generations. My ancestors went through the repression at the time of the Báb. More recently, an uncle of mine spent years in prison during the 1980s, just after the start of the Iranian Revolution,” he says.

When they are asked to describe their relations with the other religious groups at Laval, all three Bahá’ís are in agreement. “We try to develop links. We invite them to our activities. But because we are all students, the lack of time prevents us from forging stronger connections.”

Charlotte, Payman and Alexandra stress the difficulties experienced by Bahá’ís in some parts of the world. “We are not recognised in certain countries, like China. In Iran [where there are 300,000 Bahá’ís], intolerance is particularly harsh. A month ago, there was even a death in prison due to physical abuse.”

On December 16, 2005, the United Nations General Assembly expressed “serious concerns” about the human rights situation in Iran, specifically citing the discrimination suffered by Bahá’ís. Charlotte, Payman and Alexandra were pleased to learn that the resolution was introduced by Canada.

Working towards cohabitation

In the summer of 2005, a controversy arose that caused quite a stir. The affair even made the front page of Le Soleil, a daily newspaper in Québec. Université Laval wanted to redesign the Marie-Guyart Chapel in order to accommodate Salat Al Joumouâ, the Muslim Friday prayers. The decision strongly displeased Father Paul Karim of the Melkite Mission (Christians of Arab origin). In early July, after celebrating mass there for thirty years, the priest announced to his faithful that the Mission was leaving the chapel. His reasoning was simple. As he put it in the newspaper Impact Campus, “If one can say, ‘Mosque today, mosque forever,’ surely one can also say, 'Chapel today, chapel forever.’”

The Bureau d’animation religieuse considered making the changes because Newman Hall, reserved exclusively for Muslims, was no longer large enough to meet the needs of the community. “The hall can hold 150 chairs. For prayer, carpets must be laid out, which limits the number of places to 120. However, 200 to 250 people regularly attend the Friday prayers. I’ve even witnessed the faithful praying in the hallways,” exclaims Nafaâ Jabeur, president of the Association des étudiant(e)s musulman(e)s de l’Université Laval (AÉMUL). The organization has around 150 members from among the thousand Muslims on campus.

Father Karim’s public outburst forced the AÉMUL to stick with the status quo. While Mr. Jabeur acknowledges that “Muslims never asked to pray in a chapel and were never very keen on the idea,” he insists that “the present situation is no longer safe. A solution must be found quickly.” He preferred not to comment on Father Karim’s public objections so as “let everyone calm down and distance ourselves from all that.” The fact remains that many Muslim students feel a sense of bitterness. “I even received an e-mail from a Catholic student who said he was disappointed in Father Paul Karim’s position,” says Mr. Jabeur, who is completing a PhD in computer science. In Father Karim’s view, the subject is closed. “Since our departure from Université Laval,” he notes, “we have been very well received by an Irish chapel in the Sillery neighbourhood. That said, I still believe that praying in a chapel would be a regression, contrary to Muslim spiritual values. A sort of religious and spiritual adultery, if you will.”

Meanwhile, the Muslim community of Québec (6,000 members according to the most conservative estimates) is trying to build a mosque. Under the auspices of the Centre culturel islamique de Québec (CCIQ), fundraising has been underway for several years. But of the $2 to $3 million needed, only $567,000 has been raised. Boufeldja Benabdallah, a member of the CCIQ, states that the “City of Québec has agreed in principle to assist the CCIQ in bringing this project to fruition. But it must be supported, above all, by the Muslims of Québec, because there is a real need for it.”

The Québec municipal authorities initially planned to provide land to the CCIQ for the symbolic cost of $1. Given the lack of available sites, those in charge of the project at city hall opted instead for another form of assistance. “We provide professional services,” explains François Moisan, spokesperson for the City of Québec. “An urban planner from the City has been working with the Centre for the past year. He may also assist the CCIQ in the alteration work, in the event that the CCIQ decides to purchase a building.”

Despite the conventional rhetoric about the importance of integrating immigrants, relations between Muslims and the wider community have sometimes been strained. While there is little exchange between AÉMUL and the other associations—religious or not—present on the campus, the main reason is the lack of availability—as it is for the Bahá’ís. “Don’t forget that we’re all busy with our studies,” Mr. Jabeur points out. “That takes a great deal of our time. It must also be admitted that some people still don’t understand that we cannot participate in activities where wine is served, for example.”

When asked whether he is optimistic about the election of Andrée Boucher as Mayor of Québec, Mr. Jabeur answers, “What is good here is that there are institutions that ensure no one can take away your rights. It’s always possible to protest if you feel you have been discriminated against.” “Oddly enough,” he concludes, “people from Lac Saint-Jean who have moved to Québec show more open-mindedness toward us. I suppose that comes from the friendly, welcoming mindset of people who are not born in the urban centres.”

Translated by Christine York.

To learn more:

Books

CANNUYER Christian. Les Baha’is : peuple de la triple unité. Paris: Brepols, 1987.

LAMBERT, Suzanne. “L’Islam en contexte québécois : le cas des étudiants musulmans de l’Université Laval.” MA Thesis (theology). Université Laval, 1994.

PRONOVOST, Gilles and Chantal Royer. Les valeurs des jeunes. Presses de l'Université du Québec, 2004.

ROBERT, Monique. “Intégration culturelle des bahaïs iraniens au Québec.” MA Thesis (sociology). Université Laval, 1989.

SOURDEL, Dominique. L’islam, Que sais-je ? Paris: Presses universitaires de France, 2002.

Web sites

www.bahai.org

www.bahai.com

^* City of Québec. Château Frontenac.
imagesdequebec.com

This article is part of a series on the diversity of values and religious beliefs in colleges and universities and is presented with the financial support of:

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