Pope Francis arrived in Quebec on Wednesday as part of his pilgrimage of penance, atoning for the sins of the Catholic Church against indigenous Canadians, around 37 per cent of whom remain Catholic. But the visit is unlikely to reverse a huge decline of the Catholic faith in the North American country – not least in Quebec - as Catholicism has tanked in much the same way it has in other Western countries. Indeed, as reported by the Associated Press, in Francophone Quebec (long the heart of Canadian Catholicism): “Pews these days are rarely filled, hundreds of churches have closed and the provincial government has banned public service workers from wearing religious symbols.”