First of all when talking about Canada you have to distinguish between French Canada and English Canada. Catholicism among the latter is often more the product of immigration, whereas for French Canada, it is much more homogeneous.
That said among our US brethren, I too notice more polarization; more “us vs them” and “circle the wagons” mentality, much like in US politics. I also find US Catholicism among the conservatives much more strictly legalistic. And more tendency to allow politics and religion to mix. Perhaps that’s from hanging around on this forum however. I saw a lot of this on the “pray with Protestants” thread.
That said, to a lesser extent I see similar differences between French and English Canada. The English seem much stickier about the details. Two anecdotes. Once, I went to an English Mass. I am mother-tongue French, and rarely go to an English Mass. The layout of the missalettes is different; the English one is a daily missalette and the French one, a Sunday-only (a daily one is available but rarely distributed in the church, people instead subscribe to it). I lost my place and was stumbling with the Our Father, which I can only recite from memory in French or Latin, and was sternly tsk-tsked by a lady in my pew. I did not appreciate her meddling especially as I had only recently returned to the faith.
Two years ago I went to Mass at the Cathedral in Hamilton, Ontario. It was pointed out repeatedly before Mass started that ONLY Catholics were to come up for communion, and ONLY Catholics could be invited to bring up the offerings. Technically correct but never ever heard in a French-speaking assembly in Quebec.
Until Vatican-II, Catholicism in Quebec was very similar to Ireland, that is, tinged with a hint of Jansenism. It was a very severe and scrupulous form of Catholicism, with much emphasis on mortal sin, hell, the depravity of man, and very negative. In fact the French Canadians and Irish had a lot in common and a grudging respect for each other, probably united in a common dislike for the English.
Vatican-II coincided with the "quiet revolution " in Quebec (the emancipation of French-speaking Canadians) when Quebecers tossed out a very conservative and pro-Church government. Most Quebecers left the Church in droves in that era (my era: I’m 53 and I was one of those who left only to come back 22 years later). Those that stayed, appear to have embraced Vatican-II wholeheartedly, with both the positives and negatives that implies (as a lover of Gregorian chant, I am saddened by the wholesale destruction of traditions); Quebec Catholics tend to be very liberal, with a “live and let live” attitude, and tend as was pointed out with our Catholic Prime Ministers, to compartmentalize their faith and not express it so much in public. There is some resurgent interest in Quebec for certain things like Gregorian chant; the gorgeous high-altar in the cathedral in Chicoutimi had been relegated to basement storage but was recently restored and put back in place. But you’ll find that’s often mostly among younger Catholics. Many of the V-II era (in their 50s, 60s and 70s) remain fiercely opposed to the return to more traditional values. That’s the era that saddled us with the most insipid Church music imaginable, with tunes worthy of a laundry soap ad jingle. However these folks remember a backward, ghettoized faith and want nothing to do with it; in the pre-Vatican II era it was normal in Quebec for families to have 10-15 children, and this contributed to keeping Quebec poor and backwards. They will reject anything that reminds them of that era.
I myself tend to be very conservative liturgically (although I fully embrace the OF Mass, I just want to see it properly celebrated and the use of chant expanded), but adopt a “live and let live” attitude in daily life, preferring to concentrate on my own inner conversion, and preferring to evangelize Benedictine-style, by leading a quiet life of example (or at least trying) rather than overt proselytizing, which really turns me off (too many folks confuse evangelizing with proselytizing). I also think that too much emphasis on mortal sin with disregard for psychology and pastoral care can be harmful, it’s negative, and results in imperfect contrition as we do things out of fear of hell rather than love of God. True transformation comes not from legalism but from inner conversion and I sense a lack of that notion in people who self-identify as “conservatives” or “traditionalists”. But on the flip side the excessive liberalism in Quebec grates too: it’s not through an “anything goes” attitude that we can achieve inner conversion either, and sometimes we need to be challenged out of our comfort zones and complacency! I do find that as a Benedictine Oblate the contemplative side of Benedictine spirituality does, for me at least, foster inner conversion. In brief I reject both polarizations, “traditionalist” (or “conservative”) and liberal and prefer to just try and quietly live an orthodox faith.
I know these are mostly generalizations and anecdotal observations, but it is the sense I get.
What can I say? You learn something new everyday.
What is *Religion: future Catholic in elca * mean? Where you state your affiliation or denomination…I have never seen those acronyms before…