US EditionCatholic diocese near Montreal expresses regret about Hells Angels tombstone
The monument violates Catholic cemetery rules and will be removed by the Diocese of Saint-Jean-Longueuil, which aims to enforce stricter regulations in parish cemeteries.
- Photographs taken on Nov. 4, 2025, show a Hells Angels monument in the Saint-Basile-le-Grand parish cemetery, which the parish said it will remove, The Canadian Press reported Nov. 5, 2025.
- The Diocese of Saint-Jean-Longueuil said Tuesday the tombstone undermines Catholic cemetery character and contravenes Roman Catholic rites and cemetery regulations, revealing failures in diocesan rules and promising greater vigilance.
- Photographs circulated by La Presse depict the black headstone engraved with a winged skull and the words 'Hells Angels MC South', prompting visits from media and locals.
- La Presse's reporting drew strong outrage from residents and church officials, while Quebec Public Security Minister Ian Lafreniere said he thought of victims' families and other dioceses expressed shock.
- Decades of Hells Angels activity in the town mean the Hells Angels presence in Saint-Basile-le-Grand dates back decades after a chapter's bunker established in town, intensifying tensions with Catholic cemetery character and community expectations.
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34 Articles
The monument should be removed from the cemetery soon, says the diocese of Saint-Jean-Longueuil.
A monument of the Hells Angels erected at the cemetery of the parish of Saint-Basile-le-Grand is strongly denounced by the diocese of Saint-Jean-Longueuil.
The hierarchy of the Church has allowed the erection of a very little Catholic monument in honour of the Hells Angels at the cemetery of Saint Basile-le-Grand, despite the opposition of the faithful who refused this honor to the criminal organization, learned La Presse. Since the appearance of the imposing stele of the bikers last week, the devil is to the cows in the diocese.
Daniel Dezainde, President of the Association des cemeteries chrétiens du Québec (ACCQ), did not comment directly on the case of the Hells Angels funeral monument in Saint Basile-le-Grand. "I have not yet discussed it with the factory officials or the authorities of the diocese," he warned the journalist of the agency Presence. But the article signed by the investigative journalist Vincent Larouche in the daily La Presse*, he read it well. "Soon…
"The monument is impossible to miss, even before crossing the iron gate of the Monteregian cemetery that surrounds the heritage church completed in 1876. A large winged head of death, flanked by the inscription HELLS ANGELS MC SOUTH"
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