Québec, a flourishing Catholic region for centuries, is now Catholicism’s empty quarter in the Western Hemisphere. There is no more religiously arid place between the North Pole and Tierra del Fuego; there may be no more religiously arid place on the planet. And it all happened in the blink of an eye.

CHR Comment: Weigel attributes the rapid decline of Catholicism in Quebec to a delayed interaction with modernism and churchmen’s involvement in political intrigue. When they finally lost control, they rapidly lost their congregation. This begs the questions: how should a church address the challenges raised by modernism and how may they act as citizens and as Christians in addressing the issues of governance?

Source: Catholicism’s Empty Quarter | George Weigel | First Things