Formerly homeless Montreal priest living in a tent to help those who were like him

A priest in Montreal has returned to live on the streets to give the homeless in the city a new voice.

Though he has an apartment, Father Claude Paradis, 68, chooses to live in a tent nestled in the heart of downtown in the backyard of the Mary Queen of the World Cathedral.

"I spend my days in the tent, and spend my evenings on the street helping others," he said, as his gear dried in a small room he uses to assist people inside the Montreal Archdiocese.

Before he became a priest, Paradis was an addict living on the streets.

It was a chance meeting with the late Father Emmett "Pops" Johns that led to him turning his life around.

Johns founded a charity called Bon Dieu Dans la Rue with a mission to help people like Paradis.

"He taught me everything," he said.

Paradis decided to follow in Johns' footsteps, signing up for the Major Seminary of Montreal to become a priest.

"On my first day, seminarians were there in black ties and bow ties, and there I was with long hair, leather jacket, and cowboy boots," he said.

Paradis graduated and was ordained by the late Montreal Archbishop Jean-Claude Turcotte.

Paradis then started his mission, working with those on the streets and preventing the city from displacing the homeless.

"The only thing chasing them does is push them into other neighbourhoods," he said.

Paradis wants to continue helping, feeding and housing the poorest, even if it means joining them on the street.