The Mystical Geography of Quebec Catholic Schisms and New Religious Movements

This study of new religious movements in Quebec focuses on nine groups—including the notoriously violent Solar Temple; the iconoclastic Temple of Priapus; and the various “Catholic” schisms, such as those led by a mystical pope; the Holy Spirit incarnate; or the reappearance of the Virgin Mary. Eleven contributing authors offer rich ethnographies and sociological insights on new spiritual groups that highlight the quintessential features of Quebec's new religions (“sectes” in the francophone media). The editors argue that Quebec provides a favorable “ecology” for alternative spirituality, and explore the influences behind this situation: the rapid decline of the Catholic Church after Vatican Il; the “Quiet Revolution,” a utopian faith in Science; the 1975 Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms; and an open immigration that welcomes diverse faiths. The themes of Quebec nationalism found in prophetic writings that fuel apocalyptic ferment are explored by the editors who findin these sectarian communities echoes of Quebec’s larger Sovereignty movement. 

Chapter 1: Quebec’s New Religions in Social and Historical Context.- Chapter 2: New Religious Studies in Quebec since 1944: A Literature Review.- Chapter 3: The Army of Mary: Quebec Nationalism and Catholic Heterodoxy.- Chapter 4: The Pilgrims of Saint Michael: Preserving Quebec’s Traditional “Intégriste” Catholicism.- Chapter 5: La Mission de l’Esprit Saint and Quebec’s Holy Spirit Incarnate.- Chapter 6: Dr. Henry Morgentaler, “Arch-Abortionist” and Humanist: An Unbeliever’s Pro-Choice Campaign in Quebec and Canada.- Chapter 7: The Temple of Priapus: Contemporary Phallus Worshippers in Montreal.- Chapter 8: The Christian Essene Church: Freedom of Religion in the “Land of the Maple”.- Chapter 9: The Apostles of Infinite Love and the “Hidden Children of St Jovite”.- Chapter 10: The Solar Temple in Quebec and the Saint-Casimir “Transit”.- Chapter 11: Roch Theriault and the Holy Moses Mountain Family (“Ant Hill Kids”).