Today’s persecutions are more subtle than those of the beginning. They don’t necessarily use violence to disperse the faithful or to confine them behind bars. They create a climate of reserve and silence where the believer and even the priest no longer dare to present themselves as such in the public square. They are given the impression that they have a heavy past that they must forget, and that they would be better off keeping quiet rather than to come off too strongly as bearers of an important message for society. The youth suffer from this religious void which leaves them impoverished in terms of values.
--Cardinal Marc Ouellet, “Grande joie”, General diocesan assembly of priests and deacons, May 7, 2003, reprinted in Dieu plus merveilleux que les rêves, 2004
