The role of the Roman Catholic Church in the history of Canada

Christianity has played a major role in shaping both Euro-Canadians and Amerindians in North America for over four centuries. Priests and nuns arrived with the first immigrants and have often been the first white people encountered by the Indians and the Inuit people. The church conducted missionary work among the Native Americans and provided religious services for the settlers. Since 17th century the institutions of the Church and the organisations connected with the Church had been gradually developing in the regions near St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes, and since the second half of the 19th century also in the prairies. All this shaped the religious lives of the believers. It also influenced their everyday life, code of values; it had an impact on the ongoing social processes and in many aspects it shaped the political transformations in the northern part of North America. These political transformations shaped the Roman Catholic Church in New France, and later in British North America, and in the developing Dominion of Canada.
The article presents the fundamental parts of the chain of mutual conditioning and the process of changes that has been visible in policies and the position of Roman Catholic Church in the subsequent stages of the history of Quebec and Canada, including 20th century and modern times.