In Canada, the  government of a Montreal suburb is prosecuting a local woman for allowing “cultic activity” without a permit. Turns out the woman was a leaseholder on a property in which she and some Catholic friends got together for prayer, singing, and a mass. From the National Post:

By so doing, she had broken a bylaw that prohibits “cultic” activity such as “praying, singing religious songs or conducting religious celebrations.” Under the same regulations, interestingly, renters are allowed to serve liquor provided they have the necessary permits. They are forbidden, however, from using propane tanks to cook inside the building. So, you can get hammered in La Maison du Brasseur. You just can’t blow the place up or mention God.

What Celani and her group did not realize was that they were being “observed” by three employees of the borough of Lachine working at the complex that day.  In fact, no one had warned Celani, or anyone else in the group, that a Catholic Mass is now a legally prohibited activity in parts of Quebec.

Still, the observers dutifully filed reports attesting that the law had been ravaged by prayer, song and thanksgiving.

One of the employees, Virginie Gagnon, complained some of the group were even guilty of “soliciting” by attempting to sell rosary beads within the Maison du Brasseur precincts.

(In fact, Celani admits, some younger members were selling rosaries to their friends to raise money for an aid project in Haiti. In the immortal words of Ebenezer Scrooge: ”Are there no workhouses? Are there no prisons?”)