A Montreal church is refusing to quietly pay a $2,500 ticket for holding a prayer service. Instead, Ministerios Restauración Church is fighting back, filing a legal defence and a Charter challenge in Quebec Superior Court that accuses the City of Montreal of abusing its power and violating fundamental rights.
The fine was issued after a July 25, 2025, worship service featuring American musician Sean Feucht.
Roughly 150 people attended the free event, which was disrupted when anti-Christian protesters tossed a smoke bomb into the sanctuary.
Police and inspectors were on site, but rather than punishing the vandals, city officials targeted the congregation issuing a bylaw ticket claiming the prayer service wasn’t.
Lawyers funded by The Democracy Fund (TDF) have filed a not-guilty plea in municipal court while also launching a Superior Court appeal. That judicial review asks the court to:
- Quash the fine and halt proceedings,
- Declare that prayer and musical worship are legitimate uses of a church building, and
- Award $10,000 in damages for what the filing calls intentional violations of Charter rights.
The appeal argues that the City of Montreal trampled on rights protected by both the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, including freedom of religion, freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly, and equality without discrimination on the basis of faith or belief.
TDF lawyers also say city officials crossed the line into outright hostility toward religion. Inspectors threatened enforcement before the service, and the mayor’s office publicly condemned the event as being “against values of inclusion, solidarity, and respect.”
Hellbound and Down 