The shortest night of the year allows only a few hours of darkness in which to set churches on fire. It was time enough for two Catholic churches to be burned to the ground before dawn on June 21, 2021, National Indigenous Peoples Day.

As the country continues to wake up to the truth that there has been little or no reconciliation with Indigenous people, Catholics are also questioning their Church’s record.

To mark the 25th anniversary of National Indigenous Peoples Day in Canada on June 21, the Canadian Conference Catholic Bishops (CCCB) have released a prayer titled “Prayer for Tolerance, Forgiveness, Reconciliation.”

VANCOUVER -- Vancouver Archbishop J. Michael Miller reached out to residential school survivors in an interview with an Indigenous news network, apologizing for how representatives of the Church “betrayed your trust.”

Cardinal Thomas Collins said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s call for the Catholic Church to step up its responsibility for residential schools is “unhelpful” to the reconciliation process.

OTTAWA -- The Faith in the Declaration coalition is calling on the Senate to quickly approve a bill to give the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous peoples legal standing within Canadian law “as a critical step” towards reconciliation with Canada’s First Nations.

A sneak peak at a forthcoming guide to reconciliation between Indigenous Canadians and the rest of us has Toronto Catholic District School Board Indigenous education central resource teacher Frank Pio excited about the good it might do in high school classrooms.

Five years after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) issued its final report, there is agreement that strides have been made in the journey towards healing with Canada’s Indigenous peoples.

Through a commission to paint murals at three Catholic schools, Indigenous artist Ryan Willert has been able to find his own healing and reconciliation with the Catholic community.

An Indigenous garden project underway in Toronto looks to bring hope and light to the province in the journey towards healing from the dark past of residential schools.

VANCOUVER -- For nearly 11 years, Deacon Rennie Nahanee has experienced extreme highs and lows as co-ordinator of First Nations Ministry for the Archdiocese of Vancouver.

It’s been a turbulent few months. Crowds blocking rail lines, protesters waving placards and RCMP officers barricading land are some of the dramatic images of discontent across Canada.

The headlines ask if reconciliation is dead. The answer is no, but the latest crisis shows that the national aspiration of a new relationship with Canada’s Indigenous peoples remains in failing health and in need of acute care.

OTTAWA -- Some Catholic organizations fear efforts of reconciliation with Canada’s First Nations are at risk in the wake of protests and blockades over a B.C. pipeline project.

WINNIPEG -- The Paradis brothers —  Francois and Edmund — somehow knew they were destined for the life of an Oblate missionary.