Montreal, Canada - The primate of the Roman Catholic Church of Canada, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, in an unexpected mea-culpa on Wednesday asked forgiveness for past sexual abuse and discrimination committed by Catholics.
In an open letter to French-language newspapers, under the heading "Pardon for all these wrongs," the Quebec Archbishop also called for reconciliation between the Church and Quebec society.
The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, however, made it clear that the cardinal, despite being the senior Roman Catholic clergyman in this country, was not speaking on behalf of the Church in this instance.
"It's a personal initiative," his spokesman Sylvain Salvas told AFP.
Ouellet says in the letter: "Mistakes were made that have tarnished the image of the Church and for which I humbly ask forgiveness."
"I recognize that the narrow attitudes of certain Catholics before 1960 favored anti-Semitism, racism, indifference to First Nations (aboriginals) and discrimination against women and homosexuals."
The cardinal regretted the views of some Episcopal authorities in regard to women's right to vote and work.
He also recalled the sexual abuse charges leveled against priests, saying these "scandals shook people's confidence in the Church" and eventually led to the undoing of the Church's pervasive grip on Quebec society.
Over the past 30 years, the once-orthodox Canadian province has seen a considerable drop in religious practice.
Even though 80 percent of Quebecers refer to themselves as Catholic, hundreds of churches sit mostly empty for Sunday masses and Quebecers are now more likely to enter into a common-law marriage than head to a chapel.
In October, Ouellet was criticized for denouncing what he claimed was a "secular fundamentalism" or "anti-religious bias" in Quebec society, and for defending religious instruction in public schools.
Optional catechism courses are expected to be dropped from Quebec school curriculums next year, and will be replaced by classes on ethics and religious cultures.
"His eminence Ouellet wants Quebec to return to its Catholic roots," commented Gilles Rothier, a theology professor at Laval university, in the daily La Presse.
"The Church has a long road ahead before it is ready to accept the equality of women," added Christine St-Pierre, Quebec minister of culture and women's issues.