CANADA

QUEBEC
ALWAYS ON MISSION

The mission can be lived anywhere: both abroad and here in Quebec. Here too, the issues of poverty, various dependencies, migrant workers, refugees, and the preservation of creation, to name just a few, challenge believers. How can one continue to be a missionary when living here?

Since the 1990s, the Quebec Foreign Mission Society has invested energy and personnel in missionary animation and formation in the Quebec region. Many young people have been trained and sent on missions, in collaboration with other religious and missionary communities. In 2017-2018, priests and SMÉ associates from the region gathered in preparation for the 2018 General Assembly. Sharing and celebrating are then experienced in simplicity.

Despite the restrictions brought about by the pandemic, the centenary of the SMÉ in February 2021 reignited the desire for a new missionary project in Quebec. A first step was taken to address this subject: several videoconference meetings with former missionary associates launched the reflection. One of the fruits of this initiative: the desire for a second missionary engagement with the SMÉ took root in Martine Sanfaçon and Yves Bédard, a couple living in Quebec.

Meanwhile, the missionaries (priests and lay associates) from the Quebec region, the Beauce, and sometimes New Brunswick, meet twice a month, thus continuing the tradition of meeting and celebrating the gift of the mission. This is done through the Eucharistic celebration followed by a convivial meal. Sharing the word and the body of the Lord nourishes fraternity and fuels the commitments each one lives, wherever they are.