So, the maxim, “the corruption of the best is the worst,” proves true again — this time, with the Sulpicians of Montreal, pathetically so. Montreal would have never survived were it not for the Sulpician priests who came to the island settlement in 1657. I am waiting for Monsignor Olier, the friend of saints and founder of the Society of Saint Sulpice, to rally his holy troops in heaven and punish the Judases who would so coldly dishonor Notre Dame de Montréal at the front door of her basilica. Yes, she is dishonored in other ways at this renowned shrine. I have seen it myself when I visited there many years ago. I speak of the virtual absence of a dress code. Tourists today pay ten dollars to stroll into the basilica, often in immodest attire, snapping pictures and chatting about with less restraint than they would if they were in a museum. This desacralization is not unique to Notre Dame de Montréal by any means. But in this case it wasn’t a rowdy group of malfactors who were denied entrance, but a pious group of pro-life pilgrims who visit churches to pray and attend Mass as they march across Canada to protest abortion. I could be wrong. Perhaps Father Robert Gagne acted on his own without checking with his superiors. Perhaps he has been called in and reprimanded already. But this is the Society’s basilica; there’s a seminary there too, and a phone call probably was made before the priest came to the support of the door man who initially barred the group’s entry. What, in my mind, was even worse was that Father Gagne then had the gutless temerity to lead the pilgrims to a side entrance into a private chapel where they could pray without being seen. Well done, Father. Bravo! Politically correct. No one visiting the basilica was made uncomfortable by having to see a T-shirt that read “Pro Vie.” But, Father, you seem to have forgotten one thing: God sees everything.
LifeSite News: A Montreal priest has turned away young pro-life pilgrims from entering the city’s basilica because their message in defense of the unborn was too political. Wearing stylish jeans and a white button-down shirt, Fr. Robert Gagne, PSS, insisted that the young people walking across Canada to promote the pro-life message could not enter the famous Basilica to pray because of the ‘pro-life’ message emblazoned on their T-shirts. Read full report here.
