Reconciliation fund already making a difference
With over $17.5 million raised in the two-and-a-half years since the Indigenous Reconciliation Fund (IRF) became a registered charity in March 2022, the 73 Canadian Catholic dioceses are poised to exceed the five-year $30-million commitment Canada's Catholic bishops made to the nation's Indigenous peoples.
Canada's bishops recommit to reconciliation
Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) President Bishop William McGrattan today reaffirmed the Catholic Church’s commitment to reconciliation with Canada’s Indigenous peoples to mark the second anniversary of Pope Francis embarking upon his penitential pilgrimage to Canada.
Editorial: This is how healing is done
Flaws will be found, objections raised, and nits picked with the Sacred Covenant made between Catholic and Indigenous leaders regarding the Indian Residential School in Kamloops, B.C.
Archdiocese of Vancouver and Kamloops First Nation release Sacred Covenant on Indigenous Peoples Day
The Sacred Covenant signed on Easter Sunday by the Archdiocese of Vancouver and Kamloops First Nation was made public on Friday, National Indigenous Peoples Day.
Literature for travelling reconciliation’s long road
Reconciliation between Indigenous peoples and entities of the Catholic Church will be a long road to travel. Dr. Natasha Duquette has taken some steps along this road by recently offering an academic course called Indigenous Writers of North America.
Though Vancouver Archbishop Michael Miller called the Easter accord between the Kamloops First Nation and two British Columbia Catholic dioceses a significant and historic “milestone,” there appear to be no plans for other Canadian bishops to immediately follow suit.
First Nation, dioceses move forward together
The journey to the Easter Sunday signing in Kamloops of a sacred covenant between the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc (Kamloops First Nation) and Catholic bishops from Vancouver and Kamloops took several years, and it was the efforts of two men that began the process, say Kamloops Chief Rosanne Casimir and Vancouver Archbishop J. Michael Miller.
At the Easter signing of a Sacred Covenant between the Kamloops First Nation and two Catholic bishops, Vancouver Archbishop Michael Miller quoted former Chief Manny Jules: “One cannot reconcile without the other.”
Covenant signed with Kamloops First Nation
Almost three years ago, reports of underground anomalies near a former Kamloops residential school caused a firestorm of media mistruths about mass graves, which became a focus of Pope Francis’ visit to Canada in 2022.
Without truth, there’s no reconciliation
Calgary’s emeritus Bishop Fred Henry has been named one of the world’s “Top 10 people of 2023” by Inside the Vatican magazine for challenging the consensus on graves at former Indian residential schools.
Toronto Archdiocese to fund eight reconciliation projects
The Archdiocese of Toronto is allotting more than $2.7 million to fund eight projects to support the ongoing journey of healing and reconciliation with Canada’s First Nation, Inuit and Métis people.
Academics must take back history, Bolen says
Archbishop Donald Bolen charged young Canadian academics with a call to action to be critical contributors to the telling of history surrounding Canada’s past relations with its Indigenous people.
Long way to go on path of reconciliation
Pope Francis is getting personally involved in making sure sacred items and cultural artifacts held in the Vatican Museums are returned to Canadian Indigenous communities.
Charting the way toward reconciliation
Close to nine months after Pope Francis’ penitential pilgrimage to apologize to Canada’s Indigenous peoples, Catholics from across the country gathered in-person and online to reflect on the historic visit and to consider the way forward.