The role of religion in Lionel Groulx's religious nationalism
May 9, 2003
This is the title of the 黑料不打烊 University PhD thesis in Religious Studies to be defended by its author, Norman Farrel Cornett, at 2:00 pm on Monday, May 12, in the Senior Common Room of the Birks Building, 3520 University Street.
Abb茅 Lionel Groulx (1878-1967), a native of Vaudreuil, was an influential Qu茅b茅cois historian. He studied theology at the Grand S茅minaire de Montr茅al and was ordained in 1903. He taught at the seminary of Valleyfield from 1903 to 1906 and then left Canada for Europe to study in Rome and Fribourg. He returned to teach rhetoric and literature at the seminary of Valleyfield (1909-1915) before being named to the Universit茅 de Montr茅al chair of history of Canada (1915-1950). Named honorary canon in 1943, Abb茅 Groulx was also the founding president of the Franco-American History Institute (1946) and director of the Revue d'histoire de l'Am茅rique fran莽aise (1947-1967). Author of numerous novels, history books and articles, Lionel Groulx has had a profound influence on the intellectual and social life of his time. (Source: Tour toponymique Les stations de m茅tro, Communaut茅 urbaine de Montr茅al, 1989)
However, most Quebecers know Lionel Groulx as the author of these lines: "Qu'on le veuille ou qu'on ne le veuille pas, notre 脡tat fran莽ais, nous l'aurons; nous l'aurons jeune, fort, rayonnant et beau, foyer spirituel, p么le dynamique de toute l'Am茅rique fran莽aise. [...] Les snobs, les bon-ententistes, les d茅faitistes peuvent nous crier, tant qu'ils voudront: 'Vous 锚tes la derni猫re g茅n茅ration de Canadiens fran莽ais!' Je leur r茅ponds avec toute la jeunesse: 'Nous sommes la g茅n茅ration des vivants. Vous 锚tes la derni猫re g茅n茅ration des morts!' "
Over the last decade a number of books have been published on the life and thought of Lionel Groulx, from Esther Delisle's The Traitor and the Jew: Anti-Semitism and the Delirium of Extremist Right-Wing Nationalism in French Canada from 1929-1939 to G茅rard Bouchard's Les Deux Chanoines: Contradiction et ambivalence dans la pens茅e de Lionel Groulx.
According to Professor Maurice Boutin, Norman Cornett's thesis advisor, "By studying the role of religion in Lionel Groulx's religious nationalist thought, Norman Cornett shows convincingly why one must study Groulx in view of the express purpose of his work, which aimed to provide an apologetic for the role of Catholicism in French Canada and for the role of French Canada in North America."
