Canadian cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte, who witnessed the rejection of Quebec province`s religious tradition in favor of secular values, has died, the Roman Catholic Church announced.
He was 78 years old.
Turcotte was ordained to the priesthood in May 1959 and rose in 1990 to the position of archbishop of Montreal, which he held for 22 years.
His successor, Archbishop Christian Lepine, called him "a devout servant of the Church."
Turcotte was a fierce promoter of Church doctrine and of the faith at a time when Canadians were becoming increasingly disaffected with religion.
Roman Catholicism was established in Quebec during French colonization in the 17th century, and persisted following British colonization of neighboring lands that brought Anglicans to what is now Canada.
During a period of acute political and cultural change in the 1960s, the Catholic Church`s influence and religiosity in Quebec -- once central and integral to daily life -- declined sharply.
Pope Jean-Paul II promoted Turcotte to cardinal in 1994, which allowed him to participate in two Vatican conclaves to choose the bishop of Rome`s successors.
He also presided over the canonization of Quebec`s first two saints: Sister Marguerite d`Youville in 1990 and Brother Andre Bessette in 2010.
Turcotte`s health had deteriorated over the past weeks and he was admitted to a Montreal hospital`s palliative care wing at the end of March.
