page_title: Saint Joseph's Oratory
section_title: 21st century
hierarchical_section_title: Saint Joseph's Oratory / History / 21st century
caption_attribution_description: English: Saint Joseph's Oratory of Mount-Royal, carillon in 2017
context_page_description: Saint Joseph's Oratory of Mount Royal is a Roman Catholic minor basilica and national shrine located at 3800 Queen Mary Road on Mount Royal's Westmount Summit in Montreal, Quebec. It is a National Historic Site of Canada and is Canada's largest church, with one of the largest church domes in the world. Founded in 1904 by Saint André Bessette in his patron saint, Saint Joseph's honour, the Oratory was brought alive through the work and ingenuity of numerous architects and thousands of workers in a process spanning six decades. With its monumental scale, Renaissance Revival facade and contrasting Art Deco interior, the Oratory is recognizable not just in Montreal but around the world, attracting more than 2 million visitors and pilgrims to its steps each year.
  The Oratory is the highest building in Montreal, rising more than 30 meters above Mount Royal's summit, allowing it to be seen from many kilometers away. It is one of the few buildings that violates the height restriction under the municipal building code of Montreal, which limits the height of any building, including skycrapers, from surpassing the height of Mount Royal.
context_section_description: On October 19, 2004, the Oratory held its centennial. All the bells of all the churches on the island of Montreal were supposed to ring at 9:00 a.m., though not all churches participated. At 9:05 a.m., the basilica rang its bell in response and celebration. 
   On April 2, again to commemorate the Oratory's centennial, Canada Post issued 'Saint Joseph's Oratory, Quebec' in the 2004 Tourist Attractions series. The stamp was designed by Catharine Bradbury & William Stewart based on a photograph by Bernard Brault. The 49¢ stamps are perforated kiss cut and were printed by Lowe-Martin Company Inc. That same year, the Oratory was designated a National Historic Site of Canada.
  On October 30, 2007, Father Charles Corso, a priest at the Oratory, was faced with a disorganized and depressed man who threatened to kill himself with a handgun. The priest talked with the man and managed to calm him down before police arrived on scene. The man was brought to hospital to undergo psychiatric evaluation.
  On March 22, 2019, a 26-year-old man wearing a dark winter coat and light-coloured baseball cap entered the Oratory during the Friday morning mass, rapidly walked up to the centre, and stabbed the celebrating priest, Father Claude Grou. Of the fifty people attending mass, several intervened to neutralize the assailant, before security guards responded. Police officers from the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal quickly arrived on scene and arrested the assaillant who was already detained by security personnel. The assaulted priest suffered only minor injuries, a single stab wound to the chest. That same evening, upon being wheeled out of the Montreal General Hospital, he said, "My health is fine. I’ll take a little rest and I will be back to work when my rest is taken. And the Oratory will remain a place where people can be welcomed. A place of prayers, and a place of calm, and a place of peace - even if there are some moments like that."
  Today, the basilica enshrines a statue of Saint Joseph, which was authorised a  Canonical coronation by Pope Pius X on 19 March 1910 via Cardinal Vincenzo Vannutelli, previously enshrined at the Côte-des-Neiges Chapel. The image moved to the new modern basilica and was recrowned on 9 August 1955 via Cardinal Paul-Émile Léger now located within its oil chapel department.
caption: The Oratory's bells were rung in October 2004, to commemorate the centennial of the building's construction.
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