Survey to probe faith of francophones

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This article was published 25/06/2021 (1560 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For Claude Ndeba and his wife, Gloriose Nsabimana, being able to worship in French at the St. Boniface Cathedral is very important.

“French is our first language. It’s the language of our faith,” Ndeba, 49, said, adding it’s also easier to discuss their faith with their three children in French.

For the couple, who came to Canada from Burundi, the cathedral “feels like our family. We feel very at home,” Nsabimana, 37, said.

Being able to worship in French is important because, “It’s our spiritual language,” she said.

“We want to see services continue in French,” Ndeba said of how much the songs, prayers and homilies in that language mean to them as a family.

Finding ways to serve people such as Ndeba and Nsabimana better is the goal of a survey being conducted by the Archdiocese of St. Boniface in June and July.

“We’re noticing a shift in the membership,” director of pastoral services Mireille Grenier said, noting there are more people from French-speaking African countries such as Togo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast and Cameroon in the archdiocese.

The archdiocese is also seeing a decrease in Francophones who consider themselves Catholic.

About 50 years ago, a francophone was likely to identify as Catholic, Grenier said. “But that’s not true anymore.”

Changes in society means many people aren’t as religious or believe they can be spiritual without attending church, she said. In their place, the archdiocese is seeing new French-speaking people from different countries.

“It’s important for us to make them feel welcome and involve them and find ways to serve them better,” Grenier said. “We want to be as welcoming and hospitable as possible.”

One way to do that is by finding out how to best serve them in French.

Francophone members of the archdiocese, which has more than 127,000 members, are being asked how they are living out their faith in French as individuals, families and communities; about the biggest challenges they face as French-speaking Catholics; and what they think the French-language Catholic community in Manitoba will look like in five to 10 years.

“I’m interested to see what people say,” Grenier said, noting 40 per cent of archdiocese members are Francophone.

Archbishop Albert LeGatt said the survey is a way to “ensure the ongoing vitality of the Francophone Catholic community” in St. Boniface. He noted Manitoba’s French-speaking Catholics have a rich history and tradition dating back to the early 1800s and that the Catholic church has played an important role in promoting the French language in the province.

Changes in society, including the pressure to anglicize, are bringing changes to the archdiocese.

“Through the survey, we want to hear from those practicing their faith in French and learn what we need to do to assure the vitality of French for their faith through services, education, resources, French-speaking pastors,” LeGatt said.

“This is a historically French archdiocese,” he said. “But it is changing. It is very multicultural, but we don’t want to abandon our roots.”

A report about the results of the survey is expected in October.

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