Joseph Guibord: The Biography of a Burial The intrigue surrounding the burial of Joseph Guibord represented one of the most dramatic episodes in the conflict between “ultramontanism” and “liberalism” in Quebec. Guibord was a member of the Institut Canadien, a literary association whose library contained forbidden books prohibited by the Roman Catholic Church. Bishop Ignace Bourget, supported by Rome, placed the Institut under an interdict and warned that anyone who belonged to the society would be denied the sacraments. When Guibord died in 1869, still a member of the Institut, he was denied burial in consecrated ground. So began more than five years of legal struggle to determine the final resting place of his body … and soul? Back to Lecture Outline

* Lecture Notes *

* PowerPoint Slides * 

Readings (all from the Dictionary of Canadian Biography):

J.-R. Rioux, “Guibord, Joseph”: http://www.biographi.ca/EN/ShowBio.asp?BioId=38592

P. Sylvain, “Bourget, Ignace”: http://www.biographi.ca/EN/ShowBio.asp?BioId=39507

Brief Chronology of the Guibord Affair

Background

1837-1838	Rebellions in Upper and Lower Canada. Lower Canadian rebellions led by Louis- Joseph Papineau.
1840	Ignace Bourget installed as Bishop of Montreal. Ultramontane doctrine firmly entrenched in the Quebec Hierarchy.
1844	Institut Canadien de Montréal formed.
1846-1878	Pope Pius IX in Rome. Violent revolutionary and nationalist upheavels and an influx of disturbing “modern” ideas. Bourget venerates Pius’ conservative views.
1864	Syllabus of Errors (Quanta Cura) issued from Rome. Catholic liberals in Canada (including the Insitut members) on the defensive.

The Guibord Affair

1869
July	Bishop Bourget, supported by Rome, places the Institut under an interdict. Annuaire of the Institut for 1868 placed on the Index of prohibited publications with no reasons being given.
November	Joseph Guibord, who explicitly refused to renounce his membership in the Institut, dies. The Curé of Notre Dame, Father Victor Rousselot, refused burial in the consecrated part of the cemetery where the Guibords owned a plot. It is temporarily stored in the vault at the Protestant cemetery. Friends of the deceased (notably Rodolfe Laflamme and Joseph Doutre) apply to the courts on behalf of the widow Henrietta Brown.
1870
2 May	Judge Mondelet of the Quebec Superior Court rules in favour of the plaintiff.
10 September	Justices Berthelot, Mackay, and Torrance of the Court of Reviews reverse the decision.
1871
7 September	Appeal to Queen’s Bench upholds the decision of the Court of Reviews.
1873	Leave granted to Doutre to appeal the case to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London, England, the highest appelate court in the British Empire. Appeal made in the name of the Institut because Henrietta Brown had died on 2 April 1873.
1874
21 November	Decision rendered by the Privy Council, five years to the day after Guibord was refused ecclesiastical burial.
1875
2 September	Outraged feelings among Catholics in Montréal leads to the failure of an attempt at interment in the Roman Catholic cemetery. Guibord corpse taken back to Protestant cemetery.
16 November	Burial of Guibord finally accomplished under an armed military escort.

Further Readings

Clark, Lovell C. The Guibord Affair. Montreal: Holt, Rinehart and Winston of Canada, Ltd., 1971.

Doutre, Joseph. History of the Guibord Case: Ultramontanism vs. Law and Human Rights. Montreal: “Witness” Printing House, 1875.

Fahmy-Eid, Nadia. Le clergé et le pouvoir politique au Québec - une analyse de l’idéolgie ultramontaine au milieu du XIXe siècle. Montréal : Hurtubise HMH, 1978.

Galvin, Martin J. “Catholic-Protestant Relations in Ontario, 1864-1875.” M.A. thesis, University of Toronto, 1962.

Galvin, Martin A. “The Jubilee Riots in Toronto, 1875,” CCHA Report, 1959. 93-107.

Hébert, Robert. Les procès Guibord ou l’interprétation des restes. Montréal: Triptyque, 1992.

Hudon, Théophile. L’Institut Canadien de Montréal et L’affaire Guibord. Montréal: Beauchemin, 1938.

Knopff, Rainer. "Quebec's ‘Holy War’ as ‘Regime’ Politics: Reflections On The Guibord Case," Canadian Journal of Political Science 12:2 (1979): 315-331.

Lemire, Louis. "The Guibord Unpleasantness," Beaver 72:4 (1992): 36-44.

Monet, Jacques. “French-Canadian Nationalism and the Challenge of Ultramontanism,” CHA Historical Papers, 1966. 41-55.

Perin, Robert. “Bourget and the Dream of a Free Church in Quebec, 1862-1878.” Ph.D. thesis, University of Ottawa, 1975.

Pouliot, Father Léon. Monseigneur Bourget et son temps, 5 vols. Montréal, 1955–77.

Roman Catholic Church. Diocese de Montreal. Mandements : Lettres Pastorales, Circulaires et Autres Documents. Tome 6-7. Montréal : J.A. Plinguet, 1887.

Siegfried, André. The Race Question in Canada. 1906. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1966.

Skelton, Oscar D. The Life and Letters of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, vol. 1. 1921. Ed. David M.L. Farr. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart Ltd., 1965.

Sylvain, Philippe and Nive Voisine. Histoire du Catholicisme Québécois. Tome 2. Québec: Boréal, 1991.

Waite, P.B. Canada 1874-1896: Arduous Destiny. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1974.

Judicial Decisions

Affaire Guibord jugement des Lords du Comitre judiciaire du Conseil privre sur l’appel de Dame Henritte Brown vs. les cure et marguilliers de l’oeuvre et fabrique de Notre-Dame de Montréal, au Canada, prononcre le 21 nov. 1874. London, 1874?.

Affaire Guibord Question de refus de sépulture : rapport de la cause avec le texte du jugement de S. H. le juge Mondelet. Reproduction de la Minerve, Montréal, 1870.

Affaire Guibord question de refus de sépulture : rapport de la cause avec le texte du jugement de la Cour Supérieure et de la Cour de révision. Montréal : Presses à vapeur de la Minerve, 1870.

Dame veuve Guibord, demanderesse, contre La Fabrique de Montréal, défendresse. Refus de sépulture. Plaidoyers et jugement. Montréal : Louis Perrault, 1870.

MacKay, R. Jugement rendu en cour de revision re Guibord, samedi, le 10 septembre 1870. Montréal, 1870.

Opinion de juge Rolland dans la cause de Nau vs. Mgr. Lartigue. Montreal, 1870?.

Plaidories des avocats re Henriette Brown vs. La fabrique de Montréal, refus de sepulture. Montréal?, 1870.

Trudel, Francois Xavier Anselme. Affaire Guibord discours de F.X.A. Trudel, ecr., prononce les 28 et 29 mars et le 1er avril 1870. [Montreal?, 1870].

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