Montreal basilica did not chime bells to discourage praying Muslims

Published on July 30, 2025 at 19:35
Updated on July 30, 2025 at 19:41
3 min read
By Gwen Roley, AFP Canada

The premier of Quebec previously floated the idea of introducing a total ban on praying in public streets and parks -- including during protests -- as the government looks to strengthen secularism in the Canadian province. But claims that loud bells were intentionally rung to drown out a crowd participating in Muslim prayer in front of the Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal are false; the church's carillon chimes every hour and was not struck to dissuade the expression of faith.

"In an attempt to intimidate Catholics, Muslims held a 'prayer service' in front of the Cathedral in Montreal. This was the Cathedral's response...," claims the caption of a July 24, 2025 Instagram video.

In the clip, participants accompanied by a Palestinian flag kneel and rise in a public square as loud church bells silence most of the other noise in the footage. Different versions of the claim that the video shows the iconic Montreal basilica deliberately drowning out the Muslim prayer also spread on Facebook, X and TikTok.

Screenshot of an Instagram post taken July 29, 2025

Screenshot of an X post taken July 29, 2025

The proportion of Muslims in the Canadian population more than doubled from 2001-2021 (archived here), creating tensions over how to accommodate requests to pray during the school or work day.

In December 2024, Quebec Premier François Legault said he wants to ban praying in public, commenting that he wanted to send a "message to Islamists."

The Canadian Muslim Forum said the threatened ban "unfairly targets Quebecers, especially those of Muslim faith, based solely on their backgrounds" (archived here).

Some rabbis criticized the proposal, while Catholic bishops in the province panned the move to restrict public expression of faith in a letter saying "praying is not dangerous" (archived here and here).

The posts claiming the Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal deliberately rang its bells to put a stop to the Muslim prayer in front of its establishment are inaccurate. A basilica spokesman told AFP the demonstration did not trigger the striking of the bells, which he said automatically chime every hour on the hour.

"The basilica is not involved in these gatherings, which are a legitimate exercise of freedom of expression in an emblematic public space of Montreal," the spokesman said in a July 29 email.

The Canadian Press reported one of the earliest versions of the clip uploaded to social media claimed the footage was taken on June 8 at around 6 pm (2200 GMT).

Six o'clock is the final hour the bells are struck each day, ending the schedule with a more complex flurry of rings, according to the basilica's website (archived here). Rather than a consistent chiming, the bells heard in the video circulating on social media are more frenetic.

The Canadian Press fact-check also noted a protest advertised by the advocacy group Montreal4Palestine took place on June 8 within walking distance of the church (archived here and here). AFP reached out to the organization for a comment but did not receive a response.

AFP previously fact-checked claims misrepresenting Muslim beliefs and engagement with pro-Palestinian advocacy in Canada.

July 30, 2025This story was refiled for a technical reason.

July 30, 2025 This story was refiled for a technical reason.

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