Guillaume Tremblay, Director

Over the course of just a few years, Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt has become one of the most widely read and represented French authors in the world. His books have been translated into 43 languages and his plays are regularly performed in over 50 countries.

Born in 1960, educated in the French superior schools, professor of philosophy, doctor, Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt first became known in theater.

As an essayist, he published his doctoral thesis called Diderot or the philosophy of seduction (1997).

A lover of music, he authored the French translation of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro (Théâtre Impérial de Compiègne, 1997 and 1998) and completed that of Don Giovanni.

While continuing to write plays and novels, his current focus is on screenwriting. After Odette Toulemonde (2007), a comedy about happiness with Catherine Frot and Albert Dupontel, he adapted Oscar et la Dame Rose (2009), which included Michèle Laroque, Max Von Sydow, Amira Casar, Mylène Demongeot.

Although he keeps himself somewhat apart from the literary and political world, awards have begun to rain down on Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt: in 2000, the French Academy awarded him the Grand Prize of Theater for the ensemble of his work; in 2004, he received the Public Choice at the German Book Awards in Leipzig, for his novella “Monsieur Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Koran” and in Berlin the prestigious Die Quadriga’ prize for “his humanity and wisdom through which his humor succeeds in nourishing people”

Officiel site

www.eric-emmanuel-schmitt.com

« Les jeunes d'aujourd'hui voudront fonder des familles stables. Ils voudront reprendre le modèle de leurs grands-parents »

- Tiré du documentaire "Les Héritiers du mouton noir"

Denys Arcand est un réalisateur, scénariste, acteur et producteur de films québécois. Cinéaste au style très varié au fil de sa carrière, il est surtout reconnu pour ses deux grands succès international : Le Déclin de l'empire américain et sa suite, Les Invasions barbares.

Issu d'une famille où la religion tient une place importante, Denys Arcand passe près de dix ans chez les Jésuites, avant de faire des études d'histoire à l'université de Montréal. Il entre par la suite à l'ONF (Office National du Film) et y réalise plusieurs documentaires. Il y dénonce, avec virulence, les conditions de travail des ouvriers du textile. Son goût pour la polémique et son intérêt pour les problèmes politiques et sociaux transparaissent autant dans ses documentaires que dans ses fictions.

En 1986, Le Déclin de l'empire américain, récit des illusions perdues d'intellectuels québécois, empêtrés dans leurs contradictions, le fait connaître du grand public et reconnaître par la critique.

Son film Jésus de Montréal, paru en 1989, retrace ce que le personnage de Jésus a apporté de fondamental à la culture de l'humanité. Quelques paroles «incontournables» d'une sagesse dont on se priverait à tort, rien de plus. Tout le reste de la religion n'est que littérature, réécriture de mythes fondateurs, ou cinéma, ou musique, ou cantate dans une langue que personne ne comprend.

En 2003, Les invasions Barbares lui permettent de retrouver à la fois les personnages du 'Déclin de l'empire américain' et le succès. Sorti dans de nombreux pays, il rafle aussi de très nombreux prix, parmi lesquels un prix d'interprétation à Cannes, trois césars et même un oscar.

Solange Lefebvre est une théologienne, une anthropologue et une professeure québécoise. Elle enseigne à la Faculté de théologie et de sciences des religions de l'Université de Montréal.

Avant ses études théologiques de niveau doctoral, elle a obtenu un baccalauréat au conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal. Elle a aussi effectué des études de troisième cycle à l'École des hautes études en sciences sociales en anthropologie sociale.

Elle dirige le centre d'études des religions de l'université de Montréal et elle est à la tête de la Chaire Religion, culture et société.

Suite à la publication du rapport Proulx et à la promulgation de la loi 118, elle a plaidé contre un projet de « laïcité à la française » pour le Québec.

Lefebvre est souvent consultée dans les médias pour éclairer sur les questions religieuses.

Ouvrages publiés :

- Le développement social au rythme de l’innovation
- Mouvements sociaux et changements institutionnels
- La religion dans la sphère publique

André Comte-Sponville was born in Paris on March 12, 1952 and is a French philosopher. Since 2008 he has been a member of the National Ethics Advisory Committee. As a philosopher he describes himself as a materialist, rationalist and humanist.

Comte-Sponville attempts to reconcile traditional philosophic responses with today’s questions: «How should we live?», «How do we find happiness?», «Is there meaning to life?», «How do we find wisdom without acquiescing to religion», «How do we become free?», «Is virtue still possible?», «How far should tolerance go?»

He proposes a materialistic metaphysic, a humanist ethic and spirituality without God, which he presents as «wisdom for our time». Some would call Comte-Sponville as a «Christian Atheist»; he describes himself as «a faithful atheist.»

He says that he lost his faith at 18, but of this faith there remains in him Greco-Judeo-Christian morality, which results in a mysticism of immanence: «We’re already in the kingdom; eternity is now.»

Michel Meyer, director of the International Journal of Philosophy, considers him to be «one of the greatest French philosophers since Sartre.»

Website dedicated to André Comte-Sponville

Publications récentes

2009 : Du corps
2010 : Le goût de vivre
2012 : Le Sexe ni la mort

"Fatiguée de me prendre pour une autre, pendant que d'autres se prennent pour moi; de penser que j'peux sauver la terre, quand j'suis même pas capable de m'sauver moé...J'suis fatiguée.»

- Parole de "Fatiguée" tiré de l'album La musique en moi, 2011

Ginette Reno est une de ces artistes québécoises qui ne nécessite pratiquement pas de présentation tellement la carrière qu’elle mène a été prolifique. Née à Montréal en 1946, elle commence à chanter très jeune dans les magasins. Maintenant forte de ses 54 ans de carrière, elle charme à chaque fois son public, grâce à son travail et à ses dons d’interprète.

Ginette Reno s’est gagné l’admiration et l’affection d’un très vaste public au Québec, au Canada et à l’échelle internationale. Elle a enregistré plus de 50 albums en français et en anglais, tous d’or ou de platine, et elle a écrit plusieurs chansons. Son art et sa vie reflètent sa simplicité, sa chaleur, sa générosité. L’artiste a aussi fait valoir ses talents de comédienne, tant dans les séries dramatiques de Janette Bertrand, à Télé-Québec, qu’au cinéma, dans des films comme Léolo, Laura Cadieux et Mambo Italiano.

Artiste multidisciplinaire, Ginette Reno a enregistré plus de 600 chansons, donné d’innombrables spectacles, animé des émissions de variétés et joué dans des téléséries et de nombreux films. Femme d’affaires, elle a fondé ses propres maisons de disques en 1967 et en 1977. La Fondation Ginette-Reno vient aussi en aide, chaque année, à divers organismes sans but lucratif ainsi qu’aux femmes et aux enfants en difficulté.

Site Officiel : Ginette Reno

Fils d'un directeur d'école et d'une enseignante de souche irlandaise, Stéphane Archambault, artiste multidisciplinaire, voit le jour en 1970 dans la région de Montréal. Diplômé de l'École Nationale de Théâtre en 1995, on le remarque rapidement comme comédien dans les séries 4 et demi, La vie, La vie et Rumeurs.

En 1996, c'est toutefois à ses talents de chanteur et d'écriture que Stéphane fait appel pour cofonder le groupe Mes Aïeux et contrer la déprime post-référendaire. Bien que le groupe soit étiqueté comme le meneur du mouvement «néo-trad au Québec, Mes aïeux utilisent en fait des sujets et des personnages traditionnels du folklore québécois, afin d'aborder avec une pointe d'humour des thèmes modernes comme la mondialisation, la politique, l'individualisme, la surmédicalisation, le frénétisme de la vie moderne, l'histoire récente du Québec, la prostitution juvénile etc. On leur doit également des chansons actualisées sur des personnages marquants de l'histoire québécoise comme La Corriveau ou Alexis le trotteur, ainsi que des pièces humoristiques sur des phénomènes de la culture québécoise comme la poutine. Deux thèmes récurrents de leurs chansons sont la protection de l'environnement et la perte de repères de la société québécoise. L'album En famille s'est vendu à plus de 100 000 exemplaires, et la chanson Dégénérations sera couronnée chanson de l'année à l'ADISQ en 2007.

Stéphane Archambault anime depuis l'automne 2013 la nouvelle émission Vraiment top à l'antenne d'Espace musique où il propose des listes de chansons sous forme de palmarès en lien avec des thématiques précises.

Site officiel : MES AIEUX

Jean-Claude Guillebaud is a writer, essayist, lecturer and French journalist known for his important reports in the world of ideas.

In 1965, after finishing his studies in law and criminal sciences, he embarked in journalism as a reporter for the daily newspaper, Sud-Ouest. In 1972 he began working for Monde, and seventeen years later for Nouvel Observateur. He quickly became recognized and rewarded for his high quality work: in 1972 he obtained the Albert Londres prize, given to those who dare to rebel "against a social order of selfish and absurd ideas." As the president of Reporters Without Borders, he tackles the question of self-criticism of the media. "Surveyor of lands and reader of souls", he crisscrosses continents in search of different social and political models which are constantly evolving. Over the course of his discoveries, he rose, little by little, from author to essayist to editor of the Arléa collection.

The theme of religion has, over time, become a fundamental question in his work. With "La Force de conviction", published in 2005, the author questions the possibility of a just environment between religious and secular dogmas, and reflects on this more intimately in "Comment je suis devenu chétien" (How I became a Christian), published in 2007. Jean-Claude Guillebaud attempts to describe a contemporary world which surpasses its contradictions through works such as "La Trahison des Lumières" (The betrayal of Enlightenment), "La Tyrannie du plaisir" (The Tyranny of Pleasure), "La Refondation du monde" (Rebuilding the World), and "Le Commencement d'un monde" (The Beginning of a World).

Publications

2005: La force de conviction : à quoi pouvons-nous croire
2007: Comment je suis redevenu chrétien
2011: Le Goût de l'avenir
2012: Une autre vie est possible

"Le monde serait peut-être meilleur si, collectivement, on arrivait à croire en quelque chose. Une société qui ne croit en rien, c’est une société qui ne va nulle part. Enlever les crucifix si vous voulez, mais il ne peut rester sur les murs que le trou du clou retiré. L’État, ça ne peut pas juste être un drapeau, il faut quelque chose de plus grand, ouvert sur les autres. « ... » Parce que, à tout décrocher des murs, j’ai bien peur qu’un jour nos cœurs aussi soient vides." -19 février 2011, La Presse.

Reconnu comme un infatigable travailleur, un amoureux des mots et de la chanson française. Celui qui contribue à réinventer la télévision québécoise depuis 20 ans a travaillé fort pour récolter le succès. Il a sans contredit marqué le paysage télévisuel et culturel québécois. Toutefois, l'homme est toujours demeuré discret et réservé.

Scénariste humoristique, chroniqueur journalistique dans La Presse, réalisateur et directeur artistique québécois, il est intéressant de noter que M. Laporte a obtenu un diplôme universitaire en droit à l'Université de Montréal.

En décembre 2011, il accepte de devenir porte-parole pour l' Office des personnes handicapées du Québec (OPHQ) pour la remise des prix À part entière. Ce prix récompense les individus, les entreprises et les organismes qui font des gestes significatifs pour faire progresser la participation sociale des personnes handicapées.

En 2014, il écrit toujours une chronique pour La Presse. Trois recueils de ses textes ont été publiés depuis le début de sa carrière. De plus, il collabore avec l'humoriste André-Philippe Gagnon pour ces spectacles. Il tient un ''blogue" sur le site de Cyberpresse.

Blogue de Stéphane Laporte

The daughter of a journalist - her father, George Pelletier, was the director of Devoir from 1932 to 1947 - Hélène Pelletier-Baillargeon is a writer, journalist, essayist and biographer from Quebec.

Her commitment to the adventure that was working for the magazine Maintenant began with her collaborations in 1962, after which she became the editorial assistant from 1964-1972. This intellectual Catholic woman then assumed directorship of the magazine, guiding it through the storms that wipe away a by-gone Catholicism, taking the time to understand that it is no longer adequate to not be relevant to today.

During the time Helene Pelletier-Baillargeon was a columnist for the magazine Châtelaine - from 1974-1980 - she, as a committed citizen, considered the question of belonging in the essay Le pays légitime (The legitimate country), published in 1979.

After the battlefields of religious renewal, feminist combat, and intellectual positioning, she found herself on the battlefield of public education, serving on the High Education Council, and sharing her reflections and experiences as an advisor to the cabinet of the Minister of Education.

A journalist columnist for La Presse, Pelletier-Baillargeon is interested in following historical figures, and drafts numerous biographies, including those of Simone Monet-Chartrand, the Carmelites of Montreal, Jacques Grand'Maison and Robert Cliche.

She was a member of many administrative councils such as that of the Fine Arts Museum of Montreal, the High Education Councl of quebec, and, after 1988, the Lionel-Groulx Foundation.

A mangificent woman, an intellectual as respected as she is criticized, and a self-formed historian in touch with both past and present, Helene Pelletier-Baillargeon continues to collaborate on a great number of collective works as well as Quebecois and Canadian cultural, historical, and religious publications.

 Ouvrages publiés :     1993 : Simonne Monet-Chartrand          2001 : Olivar Asselin et son temps

Having earned his diploma from the Carl Gustav Jung Institute in Zurich, psychoanalyst Guy Corneau is the author of four bestselling books. The first three have been translated into multiple languages: Absent Fathers, Lost Sons, L'amour en guerre (Love in War), and La guérison du coeur (Healing of the Heart). His fourth work, entitled Victime des autres, bourreau de soi-même (Victim of Others, Self Executioner), published by Éditions Robert Laffont in April 2003, and by Éditions de l'Homme in September 2003, was also a great success in both France and Québec.

Internationally acclaimed author and public speaker, he has given hundreds of lectures and lead numerous personal development workshops in all corners of the globe. He co-hosted, with Janette Bertrand, a televized series on male psychology (Télé Québec), as well as participated in multiple television magazines and was a commentator for Deux filles, with appears in the mornings on TVA. For three years he hosted a show with Canal Vie called Guy Corneau, en toute confidence (Guy Corneau, in confidence). He will continue this collaboration, but with a new formula for documentaries, focused on research of well-being. He also writes a weekly column for Journal de Montréal. His social engagement is evident in his having founded Réseau Hommes Québec (Quebec Men's Network) and Réseau Femmes Québec (Quebec Women's network), the formula for which has spread to several francophone countries.

For nearly ten years and until recently, Guy Corneau managed ProductionsCoeur.com, an organization which unites artists and therapists to create new types of conferences, workshops, trips and seminars combining psychological understanding and creative expression with an open-hearted perspective.

Productionscoeur.com

Ouvrages publiés :
Père manquant, fils manqué
L'amour en guerre
La guérison du cœur

Born in 1972 in Ukraine to a Greek-Cypricot mother and an Algerian father, Djemila Benhabib grew up in Oran as part of a family of scientists that were engaged in social and political struggles. Early on, she became aware of the inferior position of women in her country. Having been sentenced to death by the Islamists, her family fled to France as refugees in 1994. In 1997 Djemila Benhabib came alone to settle in Quebec, where she studied physics, political science and international law. Currently, she works for the Canadian government.

Ma vie à contre-Coran. Une femme témoigne sur les islamistes is her first book, for which she won the 2009 prize for Francophone Writers of America and was a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Awards in the nonfiction category.

Journalist (columnist for Journal de Montréal), feminist, political activist, and combatant against Muslim fundamentalism, Benhabib published Les Soldats d'Allah à l'assaut de l'Occident in 2011, and received the International Award for Secularism, awarded by the Secular Republic Committee.

In March 2014, she received the Humanist Award of Quebec, awarded jointly by the Humanist Foundation of Quebec and the Humanist Association of Quebec. She ran for office with the Parti-Quebecois In March 2014 in the Thousand Islands district.

Official site: Djemila Benhabib

"Tout le chemin de la vie, c'est de passer de l'ignorance à la connaissance,
De l'obscurité à la lumière, de l'inaccompli à l'accompli, de l'inconscience à la conscience, de la peur à l'amour."

Frédéric Lenoir, né le 3 juin 1962 à Madagascar, est un philosophe et écrivain français,

En 1986, il débute sa vie professionnelle comme directeur de collection aux éditions Fayard et publie comme auteur plusieurs ouvrages d’entretiens ou d’enquêtes sur des thèmes philosophiques et spirituels.

En 1991, il se consacre à l’écriture et à sa thèse de doctorat à l’Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) sur le bouddhisme en Occident (qu’il obtiendra avec félicitations du jury à l’unanimité).

Il est chercheur associé à l'École des hautes études en sciences sociales depuis 1991 et, en 2004, il prend la direction du magazine Le Monde des religions (bimestriel appartenant au groupe Le Monde) qui offre une approche laïque et culturelle du fait religieux. Il a récemment (2012) reçu le prix Saint-Augustin pour le dialogue interreligieux en Méditerranée

Auteur d’une quarantaine d’ouvrages (essais, romans, contes, encyclopédies), traduits dans une vingtaine de langues et vendus à quatre millions d’exemplaires, il écrit de même pour le théâtre, le cinéma et la bande dessinée.

Au cours des 5 dernières années, il publie plusieurs ouvrages de philosophie existentielle qui touchent un large public, parmi lesquels Socrate, Jésus, Bouddha (Fayard), Petit traité de vie intérieure (Plon) et L’Ame du monde (NiL).

Site Officiel : Frédéric Lenoir

Rose Dufour holds a PhD in Anthropology and specializes in public health. She has worked in this speciality in the Quebecois Great North, has invested herself for dozens of years in the study of social insertion and removal processes of the homeless, as well as in the case of the Duplessis orphans.

This great lady is as content in the university world as on the streets amongst the victims of prostitution whom she has chosen to help. She makes use of anthropology to analyze the mechanisms by which children and adults become weighed down by misery, poverty and exploitation. In her eyes, knowledge is of use only to the extent that it can change things, give a voice to those who do not have one, and speak in the name of those who cannot.

She is known in Quebec as the founder of La Maison de Marthe, an organisation that helps women to remove themselves from the snare of prostitution in the belief that every human being is invaluable and that every person has the right to a full and whole life. She advocates to surpass the philosophy of aid in order to develop a philosophy of liberation that serves to bring the individual to the realization of their dignity, to end dependency and to find their sovereignty. The purpose of La Maison de Marthe is to reinsert in people their full quality of being, help them to stay afloat in their lives, to participate and to make decisions freely.

In June 2013, she was awarded the National Order of Quebec prize at the hands of Prime Minister Pauline Marois.

Published works:
Je vous salue...
Téléjournal - Rose Dufour, son histoire

Réalisateur, Bernard Émond est né à Montréal en 1951. Aprés des études en anthropologie et un mémoire de maîtrise sur le cinéma ethno-graphique, il travaille pendant les années 1980 dans le Grand Nord canadien comme formateur à la télévision inuit.

Toutes les œuvres de Bernard Émond sont habitées par ses thèmes de prédilection : la dignité et la fragilité humaines, et la perte des repères culturels.

«Très jeune, avoue Bernard Émond, j'ai eu quelque chose qui s'approche d'un sentiment tragique de l'existence. J'ai grandi avec le sentiment que le pire pouvait arriver tout le temps.» Aujourd'hui, le cinéaste est habité par une inquiétude devant la crise culturelle et morale qui frappe la société québécoise. «J'ai le sentiment, lance-t-il, de vivre dans une culture qui est en train de s'autodétruire par manque d'intérêt, que ce fonds culturel canadien-français qui informe toute notre culture est en train de se perdre carrément.»

Émond, aujourd'hui, se réclame donc d'un conservatisme de gauche, qui souhaite renouer avec la transmission du meilleur d'une tradition tout en gardant le cap sur l'idéal de justice sociale.

Avec «le cinéma comme outil d'exploration du monde» et avec ses interventions intellectuelles, notamment les chroniques qu'il signe depuis deux mois dans la revue Relations, Émond entend se battre contre «le recul du sens» qui risque d'entraîner la désagrégation de notre identité.

Dernières réalisations

2007 : Contre toute espérance

2008 : Ce qu'il faut pour vivre

2009 : La Donation

2012 : Tout ce que tu possèdes

Jonathon Painchaud, born September 17, 1974, was the singer of the former band Okouné. Now a singer-songwriter and producer, Jonathon Painchaud has worked to launch his solo career with different producers, and in October 2013 released his seventh album, Mon cœur collé au tien.

Certainly one of the most talented singer-songwriters of his generation, Jonathan Painchaud has offered the radio many successes in recent years. Multiple number one hits were taken from three of his solo albums.

With an excellent ability to tell stories like few others can, the first single from his latest album, Petite poupée, is an ode to the survivors of the battle of love. A touching album, which combines different styles including folk and rock, this album shows maturity, and deals with the preoccupations of a man approaching his 40s. It is a matter of simple life stories, of the unconditional love of a child, of rifts or blossoming love, friendships and brotherhood.

Official website : Jonathan Painchaud

A humanist at heart, since her childhood Eugénie has been interested in the human condition, in the small and large actions that can make a difference in the life of a child, a woman, or man. It was to give life to this passion that in 2011, after 20 years of working as a journalist, she quit her job in the media. She then began her adventure as Ambassador and Director General of l'Humain pour l'Humain (Human to Human), a humanitarian organization that is revolutionizing team building by offering humanitarian team building activities.

For her, it was the logical next step in her journey. Since the age of 16, Eugénie has been a traveler. A curious woman, she has wandered the four corners of the globe discovering different peoples. An explorer at heart, she is fascinated by the various facets of human nature. For 20 years, her thirst to meet others was quenched by her work as a journalist at Radio Canada.

Recipient of numerous professional awards, in recent years Eugénie with major documentaries that incite society, and the human beings who compose it, to reflect on the deeper meaning of life.

Throughout the years, Eugénie has been involved in a variety of volunteer work and humanitarian aid. She has also pushed more deeply in her quest for self-knowledge through teaching meditation in Asia, Europe and North America. A public speaker for over fifteen years, her words invite an opening of the heart.

Born in Montreal in 1936, Rene Derouin is a carver, painter, sculptor and installation artist who works on both small and large scales; he is pursuing research based on continental identity, in light of American popular cultures. Traveling from north to south, spanning from Quebec to Mexico, meeting people and sharing cultural exchanges, have promoted, over the course of the last forty years, the creation of works marked by these experiences.

Not confining himself to the traditional limits of carving, Derouin produces a fascinating body of work that expands the limits of this art form, and through which the artist explores notions of self, time and place.

Chapelle/Capilla, one of his recent installations, hallmarks a break with the rest of his work a reconciliation with the sacred dimension of Quebecois culture, though there is nothing religious about it. Created in Perce, at the James Villa, where he was a resident artist, the installation shows the artist's will to re-appropriate a spirituality which the artist has, thus far, been unwilling to name.

Appreciated on multiple continents, Rene Derouin's work has attained wide distribution in Quebec, Canada, and abroad - more specifically in Mexico, where he has received the highest honours of the Mexican government. His works have also been exhibited in France, the United States, Venezuela, Australia, and Japan.

Official website : René Derouin

Jardins du précambrien

For over seven years, Stephanie Gravel has worked in the domain of education of religious culture.

On top of acting as head of religious sciences at the CEGEP Jean-De-Brebeuf and Andre-Grasset from 2004 to 2007, her work in religious sciences at the University of Montreal, as well as her engagements as teaching assistant in the same faculty, allowed her to experience the issues and challenges of professional impartiality.

What's more, from 2006 to 2009 the Federation of Private Education Institutions and the Ministries of Education named her head of the 'Ethics and Religious Culture' (ECR) program for all private schools in Quebec. She thereby trained about 1000 primary school, secondary school, and special education teachers. She also trained directors of private Quebecois schools. She pursued a PhD at the University of Montreal, where she deepened the thorny question of professional impartiality of the ECR program and worked in collaboration with the Chair of Religion, Culture, and Society.

Paul-Émile Roy est un littérateur et un écrivain québécois qui s'intéresse plus particulièrement à l'éducation, la politique et à la spiritualité.

Natif de Saint-Cyprien, il fit ses études au collège Saint-Laurent et à l'Université de Montréal, où il obtient son doctorat en littérature après avoir séjourné à l'Université de Paris.

Essayiste marginal dont les ouvrages ne sont pas conçus pour faire la manchette, Paul-Émile Roy est néanmoins l'auteur d'une œuvre relativement importante qui brille par sa constance. Défenseur de l'héritage catholique du Québec, souverainiste résolu et, surtout, champion d'une vie vécue avec la culture, aussi bien universelle que québécoise, Paul-Émile Roy se nourrit notamment de la pensée d'un Pierre Vadeboncœur, dont il offre une version vulgarisée et plus conservatrice.

Aujourd'hui, l'essayiste ressent le besoin de faire le point sur son parcours, pas tant pour se raconter lui-même que pour jeter un regard sur l'époque. «Je tente, écrit-il dans Le Mouvement perpétuel-Itinéraire d'un Québécois candide dans la modernité, de rendre compte de ce qui s'est passé autour de moi, dans la société, dans le monde.»

Publications

2004 - Revisiter le christianisme
2006 - Il faut achever la Révolution tranquille!

2012 - La crise spirituelle du Québec

"When Samian enters the performance hall at the CEGEP Rimouski, a group of drop-outs awaits. Wherever he goes, the rapper of Algonquin origin has a role that surpasses music. Samian projects the image of an inspiring, committed First Nations youth."

- Jan 19 2013, La Presse

Samian is the 27 year old Algonquin youth that was not afraid to jump on-board the Wapikoni mobile in 2004, an experience that transformed his life and made him a real star in Quebec. The words he sings emerge from his soul. They are a weapon for the rapper who empties his heart out into his songs and speaks on behalf of an entire nation.

Native to Pikogan, a small First Nations community enclave in the town of Amos, in Abitibi-Temiscamingue, Samian - the name an Algonquin translation of Samuel, his first name - has succeeded in proudly bearing his colors; those of an entire people - an 'invisible' people he calls 'invincible' - and for which he demands respect and recognition. As a voice through which he expresses to the present an ancient history spanning multiple centuries, the metis rapper proclaims his poetry with the spirit of a warrior… Avec une part d’ombre, mais non sans lumière — je suis vivant, c’est pour ça que j’y crois (With a shadow side, but not without light - I am alive, which is why I believe)… evoking the past for the sake of the future of coming generations - a happy future that calls for the courage of the new generation, a nation of unified brothers.

Without a doubt, to meet Samian is to be in the presence of an artist of full measure, eager to rush headlong to defend his values and his roots, because, to paraphrase him if we may, rap 'is stronger than politics'.

Official website : Samian

Marie-Andrée Roy is a professor at the Department of Science and Religion, and Director of the Institute of Feminist Research and Studies at UQAM.

Founding member of the collective L’autre Parole, she finds herself in the midst of questioning with sociologists and feminist theologians who claim recognition of the role of women in the church.

In 1991, Mrs Roy became involved in a research project led by Anita Caron of UQAM. It was during this vast survey that the sociologist who affirms women’s role in the church carried out doctoral research entitled "Women and power in the Church. The case of the Catholic Church from 1970 to today.” Her research goals were many. The author aims to highlight the social factors that influence the balance of power within the church, in order to trace women's own perceptions of their role and to propose strategies for action in a perspective of transformation. A challenge that the committed researcher met with success!

In spite of the complexity of the demonstration and the diversity of research objectives, this work remains an indispensable tool in the religious field, not only because of her interesting historiographical review, but also due to her well-defined theoretical approach and her concern with being true to the experiences of women, theologians, and workers in the field.

Sociologist, theologian, professor, parish pastor, chaplain, member of the Young Christian Worker movement, priest, educator, social worker and essayist, Jacques Grand’Maison is an astute observer, and sometimes disturber, of Quebecois society and its evolution.

By offering an informed reflection and a sensitive commitment to the issues facing our modern world, his analyses have contributed a more precise evaluation of the progress made since WWII.

His commitment to youth has been constant, which is illustrated by his extensive action-research project, led by Grand’Maison during the 90s, on Quebecois generations and the relationships between them, followed by his participation in the influential group Bridging Generations (Le Pont).

Over the course of his career he has received most notably the Humanities Award of Quebec (1970), the Esdras Mainville Award (1981), an honorary doctorate from Sherbrooke University (1987) and the University of Laval in Quebec city (1998), and the Award of the Social Sciences Federation of Canada (1990). All the while he published over forty books, many of which have been translated into multiple languages. Additionally he has written hundreds of articles and literary and poetic essays. 

On the eve of his 80th year, Jacques Grand’Maison presents a very personal work: “Secular Society and Christianity”, which is a balance between both his reflection and action and the hopes that he carries still today.

Noting that the secular condition is our new and historical reality, he offers a critical essay on the ties of humanity that unite today’s society and Christianity.

Recent Publications:

2007 - Pour un nouvel humanisme
2010 - Société laïque et christianisme

"I choose to forgive the church officials who tried to kill my language and my culture, and who wanted me to be ashamed of who and what I am. It is time for me to move on. And to continue being Cree, in defiance of everything the federal government intended for me and my people."

- Read at the National Assembly by Mr. Coon Come, 2008

Matthew Coon Come, born near Mistissini, Quebec in 1957, is a man of politics and an activist of Cree descent. He was National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations from 2000 to 2003.

He began his studies in political science at the University of Trent and thereafter studied law at McGill University.

Coon Come was first elected as Grand Chief and president of the Grand Council of the Cree in 1987. He has become internationally celebrated for his efforts to defend the fundamental rights of indigenous peoples, notable in the campaign against the Quebec government’s hydroelectric project in Bay James.

Matthew is without a doubt best known for his international work to protect the traditional lifestyle of indigenous people. His voice has been heard across Canada to defend the fundamental rights of the indigenous people. Under his direction, the Great Council of the Cree (Eeyou Istchee) has remained in the center of every major political question that concerns the indigenous people of Canada.

In addition to the Goldman Award, he was also the recipient of the Equinox environmental award and the Condé Nast environment award.

Alexandra Pleshoyano, a reputable speaker, has a doctorate in Spiritual Theology and is currently an associate professor at the Faculty of Theology of University of Montreal. She published "I still had a thousand things to ask you, the internal universe of Etty Hillesum," with Novalis publishing house.

In 2009 she received the funding from the Council of Research and Human Sciences for her postdoctoral project concerning religious figures in the works of Leonard Cohen. Her research has taken her on the road as she is in demand as a conference speaker in Canada, the USA and in Europe.

The main underlying question in her work is this: "Can we pretend that Leonard Cohen is spiritual, but not religious?" The analysis focused on Leonard Cohen and his relationship with what he considers the divine or sacred. The word "religious" is used in the broad sense of the term, meaning that which brings us towards a mystery that infinitely surpasses all institutional and dogmatic religious frameworks.

"God, the primary aim of the Christian faith which is free and personal, delivered His message through a Holy story which goes from Genesis to Revelation. This story includes yesterday, today and tomorrow. Jesus was inserted into this story; he was integrated into it to instruct his people."

- Death and survival of religions, p. 19

Benoît Lacroix is a Dominican, theologian, philosopher, and professor from Quebec.

For those who don't know this man generous and attentive man who is always open to dialogue, it is worth hearing Father Benoît Lacroix speak; with him you'll find rich and inspiring discourse. Born September 8th, 1915 in Saint-Michel de Bellechasse, Lacroix joined the Dominicans and was ordained July 5, 1941. He was a professor at the Institute of Medieval Studies at University of Montreal from 1945 to 1980. Being retired hasn't stopped him from continuing to speak at conferences and give interviews in the media. A man open to discussion with all, Lacroix considers dialogue with the youth to be of particular importance. Many come to him to hear words of wisdom

Benoît Lacroix's spirituality is in some ways its own world, fascinating to explore. His attraction to the sacred manifests itself across the diversity of cultures. He studied in French Canada, ut has always been interested in a comparatie point of view; that is what drew him to Japan, in terms of Buddhism; it is what impassioned him in Rwanda, at Butare; it is what he finds fascinating among the First Nations people. He is intruiged by the dialogue between culture and spirituality. It was no surprise to see him collaborate with the establishment of the Museum of Religions in Nicolet in 1983

One could say that Lacroix is more of a spiritual man than a religious one, given his stance which seeks less to judge and condemn than to question and accept that we don't always have answers…

Léo-Paul Lauzon spent his childhood in the impoverished Centre-Sud neighborhood of Montréal, which used to be called the “Faubourg à mélasse.” He is the second of three children, of which he is the only boy, and the poverty in which he was raised led him to question socio-economic inequalities, and denouce them.

Lauzon received an MBA from the HEC (Business and Economics School) of Montreal and a PhD in management from the University of Grenoble. He placed first in Québec and third in Canada in the examination of Chartered Accountants. Lauzon is also a Certified Management Accountant, the first in Canada at the time of his evaluation.

He has been an accounting professor at the School of Management Sciences at the University of Quebec at Montreal since he completed his studies in 1973. He founded the Chair of Social Economic Studies at UQAM in 1996. His journey has earned him comparison to Michel Chartrand, of whom he feels he is a spiritual son.

Since the the Canadian federal election in 2006, he has been a NDP political candidate in the Outremont borough. He states that he entered politics in order to address inequalities.

He maintains a Blog with the Journal of Montreal.

Alain Crevier is a journalist and a television and radio host in Quebec.

With studies in economics and political science he has worked at Radio-Canada since 1980. Until 1991 he worked in radio.

Since 1995 he has hosted Second Regard, a production that tries to help us discover a wide view of spirituality without being attached to a particular belief or ideology. Oftentimes Second Regard becomes a sort of school where the listener can approach the question of meaning. Broadcasting since 1975, the expertise of Second Regard has become a reference for those trying to understand official positions of the Catholic Church towards society; likewise for debates on euthanasia, abortion, the emergence of Islam, religious fundamentalism, and many other topics. Alain Crevier has become a specialist interviewed for news programs.

« I’m a believer, but I do not say in what. Faith, for me, does not blindly believe in a god or goddesses. It is to accept what we do not know. »

He is one of the rare journalists specialized in the area of religion in Quebec who still has a dream of a reformation in the church; «There is something that the church must settle within itself: its approach to modernity. It simply doesn’t make sense to not have women walking the halls of the Vatican. Open up, my goodness!»

Blog : Alain Crevier

- Emeritus Professor of the University of Montreal
- Theologian and lawyer specializing in ethics
- Honorary member of the Faculty of Medicine

After finishing his studies in law and religious sciences in Quebec, Guy Durand continued his education in Lyon (PhD in theology), Münster (language and theology), and Paris (medical ethics).

Professor Durand worked at the University of Montreal from 1962 to 1963, and again from 1967 until his retirement in 1997 - first at the Superior Institute of Religious Sciences, and then at the Faculty of Theology and of Religious Sciences.

His career can be divided into two periods: initially, he focused his research on theological ethics and on teaching training; he then became interested in bio-ethics and the world of health.

At the beginning of his professional life, Professor Durand taught a number of courses in theology: core morals, sexual morals, respect of life, spiritual theology, and marriage. He was part of several internal committees, including the Faculty Council.

Even though he is now retired, Guy Durand continues to write and to publish (most notably, over twenty books on social and political ethics, and over fifty scientific articles), as well as provide conferences.

To be rooted in life, in order to flourish.
Who doesn't know Mario Pelchat, the Quebecois singer with the deep and bewitching voice?

He has conquered Quebec, France, Lebanon, and Russia, sans compter les grandes personnalités de ce monde, dont Michel Legrand qui signe la préface de la bibliographie du chanteur populaire : "Le semeur".

"Le semeur a ses rêves
Qu'il emporte avec lui
Une veine, une sève
Où l'on s'abreuve aussi
Pour autant qu'il demeure
On vivra à travers lui."

With a career of spanning over thirty years, success in abundance, major musical comedies (Picasso, Notre-Dame de Paris, Don Juan), as well as duets with Michel Legrand and other superstars of both local and international scenes, Mario Legrand has not yet finished surprising us, as much with his music as with his numerous production projects, and ownership of a vineyard in full growth.

Official website : Mario Pelchat

Pierre Maisonnuve is a journalist, television host and Quebecois radio host.

Born into a family of ten children, his father, a carpenter, taught him all about Quebecois history and politics.

At the encouragement of a friend, he registered for a college for TV and radio announcers. After his studies, he worked in Cornwall, became a DJ, and later a news announcer.

He has been a journalist since 1964 and worked for Radio Canada (SRC) from 1971 to 2012. He is also the host of biographical works on Jean-Claude Turcotte, Michel Dumont et Marc Ouellet. He has covered various present-day themes: politics, society, economics, science, and culture.

His reporting has taken him to many countires: Burkina Faso, the United States, Israel-Palestine, Japan, Mali and the United Kingdom. He has never been a foreign correspondent, choosing instead to prioritize his family.

Maisonneuve has hosted multiple television programs for the SRC and for the Information Network (RDI): News, Discovery, Issues, Briefing and Maisonneuve a l’écoute.

He recently signed the biography of Gilles Vigneault, published in March 2012.Intrigued by the fact that certain songs by Vigneault testified to a deep spiritual quest, Maisonneuve met with him for several hours in order to understand how he, during the storm of the last half-century, guarded a faith inherited from those who preceded him. This resulted in a surprising dialogue in which the great poet reveals to us, with frankness and modesty, the interior landscape within himself.

Ouvrage publié :
Gilles Vigneault : un pays intérieur

Gianni Vattimo, né en 1936, est un des plus éminents philosophes italiens actuels. Professeur de philosophie à l’université de Turin et député européen. Croyant, il défend une foi non dogmatique. Il a, entre autres ouvrages philosophiques majeurs, publié "Après la chrétienté, pour une christianisme non religieux" composé d’une série de sept articles publiés dans différentes revues philosophiques entre 1993 et 2002

Toute la démarche de l’auteur vient s’inscrire dans l'estimation probable de notre certitude et de notre foi, ce qu’il résume en rapportant que c’est à la suite d’un coup de téléphone avec un de ses anciens professeurs très croyant, qui lui demandait si au bout du compte il avait encore foi en Dieu, que Gianni Vattimo s’est surpris à lui répondre : « Disons que j’espère croire .

Vattimo, méfiant envers les dogmes de la modernité, a fait le choix d’étudier la philosophie et en particulier Nietzsche et Heidegger, « critiques les plus radicaux de la modernité ». C’est paradoxalement à travers ces deux penseurs que Vattimo a retrouvé le christianisme, sous la devise Credere di credere ( En italien, Credere di credere sonne de façon paradoxale, croire signifiant en même temps « avoir une foi, une conviction… à propos de quelque chose » et « estimer, penser avec une marge d’incertitude ».

Reconnu pour sa réflexion particulièrement précieuse dans l’horizon de la « fin de la métaphysique »,Gianni Vattimo , pense que le principe de la sécularisation des sociétés modernes réside dans l’incarnation du Christ. Dans l’«ontologie faible ou PENSEE FAIBLE », un concept dont il est l’auteur, il voit une transcription du message chrétien pour l’époque actuelle.

A young theologian and globetrotter, Xavier Gravent-Tirole is what one could call «new Christian».

After completing his first collegial cycle, he decided to take an around the world trip beginning and ending in Montreal. His maiden voyage, his first around the world trip, visiting numerous sacred places along the way, remains one of the most memorable moments of his life. Having encountered many people living their spirituality in such a diversity of ways, Xavier was profoundly amazed by the hybrid forms that manifested themselves in their spiritual lives.

His PhD thesis in theology and religious sciences (at the University of Montreal and the University of Lausanne) examines how hybridity can become a fertile theological category through which to consider identity, the relation to the other, and religious pluralism.

Inspired by prominent figures such as Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Desmond Tutu and Dom Edler Camara, Xavier is recognized as a public intellectual - in his desire to think as a man of action, and act as a man of thought - and remains convinced that religion is firstly the bearer of fraternity, humanity, generosity and respect for one another. Unlike war, which is loud and shocking, peace remains mainly discreet and quiet.

Xavier is in support of a more liberal and more human Christianity, and wishes to restore credibility to Christians and to their religion. It's even a matter of urgency for him.

He has also written a book manifesto for a renewal of Christianity: Letters to Kateri, published in 2012 by Editions Le Jour.

Director of the Mennonite Center of Paris and a professor in Vaux-sur-Seine (Paris), Neal Blough is one of the most influential evangelicals in France.

Last September, he gave two conferences at the Center of Anabaptist Studies of Montreal under the themes of: "Narrative, ecclesiastical community, and biblical interpretation" and "The Anabaptist contribution to evangelical heritage".

During these conferences, Monsieur Blough addressed the delicate question of interpretation and use of biblical narrative in the Christian faith. He shared essential reflections on evangelical identity and specifically approached the French situation, which proves itself remarkably illuminating in regard to understanding the evangelical reality in the Quebecois context.