National Parishes are Roman Catholic parishes in Québec that serve the different ethnic communities in Montreal, including the Irish, Italian, Portuguese, Ukrainian and Chinese. The other type of parish existing in Quebec is the territorial parish. All French parishes fall into this category. The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... A parish is a subdivision of a diocese or bishopric within the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Church of Sweden, and of some other churches. ... During the 1960s, a terrorist group known as the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) launched a decade of bombings, robberies and attacks on government offices. ... An ethnic group is a group of people who identify with one another, or are so identified by others, on the basis of a boundary that distinguishes them from other groups. ... Montreal or Montréal1 (pronounced in Canadian English, in standard French, and in Quebecois French) is the second largest city in Canada. ...

Québec was first colonized by French explorers who brought to North America the Roman Catholic religion. English Protestants began arriving after the Conquest of 1760 and during the American Revolution (1776-1783). They established their own churches and charitable societies. The immigration of many Irish Catholics during the early nineteenth-century brought about a pastoral problem. No anglophone parishes existed in Québec at the time and few preachers could minister to the immigrants' spiritual needs. The Irish Quebecers successfully demanded the creation of English-speaking parishes. By the mid-1840s, they had also erected Saint Patrick's Basilica, a decade after the French Notre-Dame de Montreal Basilica was completed. New France (French: la Nouvelle-France) describes the area colonized by France in North America during a period extending from the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 to the cession of New France to the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1763. ... See also explorations, sea explorers, astronaut, conquistador, travelogue, the History of Science and Technology and Biography. ... World map showing location of North America A satellite composite image of North America North America is a continent in the northern hemisphere, bounded on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west... The English are an ethnic group originating in the lowlands of Great Britain and are descendent primarily from the Anglo-Saxons, the Celts with minor influences from the Scandanavians and other groups. ... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ... The Treaty of Paris was signed on February 10, 1763, by the Kingdom of Great Britain, France and Spain with Portugal in agreement. ... Before the Revolution: The 13 colonies are in red, the pink area was claimed by Great Britain after the French and Indian War, and the orange region was claimed by Spain. ... Irish Catholics are persons of predominantly Irish descent who adhere to the Roman Catholic faith. ... An anglophone is someone who speaks English natively or by adoption. ... In modern Quebec many Quebecers are partly of Irish descent, making them Irish Quebecers. ... Saint Patricks Basilica is a Roman Catholic minor basilica in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. ... Notre-Dame de Montréal Basilica The Basilique Notre-Dame de Montréal (commonly called Notre-Dame Basilica) is a basilica in the historic district of Montreal, in Quebec, Canada. ...

Thus came to be born the national parishes of Québec. This manner of church organization is unique in Canada. All parishes are in full communion with the local bishop, though not all use the Latin liturgical rite. Parish boundaries are set by episcopal decree and the territories of the parishes of different nationalities overlap. Members of a certain ethnic or linguistic group in a given area are understood to belong only to their national parish. Thus, the English and French of one district may belong to two distinct parishes with the same territory. Nevertheless, no parish is officially subordinate to another (or bound by another's decisions), though certain have achieved greater renown than others. Full communion is a kind of relationship between two or more organizations of Christians. ... A bishop is an ordained member of the Christian clergy who, in certain Christian churches, holds a position of authority. ... Then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) presiding at the 2005 Easter Vigil Mass in place of the dying Pope John Paul II. Mass is the term used of the celebration of the Eucharist in the Latin rites of the Roman Catholic Church. ...

English national parishes are quite numerous and are found throughout Québec. Parishes were also erected for the Italians, Portuguese, Ukrainian and Chinese communities of Montreal, among others. The oldest allophone parish in Montreal is the Italian Madonna del Carmine (Notre-Dame-du-Mont-Carmel), created in 1905 by Msgr Paul Bruchési. Alongside Madonna della Difesa (Notre-Dame-de-la-Défense), it enjoys particular prestige in the Italian community on account of its age. In phonetics, an allophone is one of several similar phones that belong to the same phoneme. ...

Though Mass is celebrated in languages besides English and French outside of greater Montreal, no allophone national parishes exist outside this region—few allophone immigrants chose to settle elsewhere. Due to their smaller number, the territories of allophone national parishes are usually much larger than the territories of English national parishes.

Besides language, the national parishes keep alive through their celebrations different Church traditions and customs particular to certain countries, for instance, saints' feast days or rites. Many of these parishes are headed by priests who studied in or emigrated from those countries. The calendar of saints is a traditional Christian method of organising a liturgical year on the level of days by associating each day with a saint, and referring to the day as the saints day of that saint. ... The term Eastern Rites may refer to the liturgical rites used by many ancient Christian Churches of Eastern Europe and the Middle East that, while being part of the Roman Catholic Church, are distinct from the Latin Rite or Western Church. ... Roman Catholic priest A priest or priestess is a holy man or woman who takes an officiating role in worship of any religion, with the distinguishing characteristic of offering sacrifices. ...