Catholic Register Columns

Children's shoes line a memorial on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School June 6, 2021. The remains of 215 children, some as young as 3 years old, were found at the site in May in Kamloops, British Columbia.

Glen Argan: We have a duty to listen to survivors

Residents of my Edmonton neighbourhood are setting up front yard signs of solidarity to honour the 215 former students at the Kamloops Residential School whose remains were found outside the school. As well, demonstrations were held in some centres regarding the detection of these unmarked graves. This discovery has moved people in a way that earlier revelations about the schools did not.

By Glen Argan

Readers Speak Out: June 13, 2021

More thinking

Re: Fr. Raymond de Souza: Symbols matter (May 27):

Thank you, Father. Yes, just what does the Pride/Rainbow/Progress flag mean? There seems to be an unholy rush to get it up before we figure out what we are buying into here.

A photo of a Kamloops Residential School survivor and former chief, Archie Charles, is seen in a memorial on the grounds of the former Indian Residential School June 6, 2021. The remains of 215 children, some as young as 3 years old, were found at the site in May in Kamloops, British Columbia. Pope Francis expressed his sorrow at the discovery of the remains at the school, which was run from 1890-1969 by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate.

Editorial: Truth brings justice

“Sorry” is a powerful word, but it is only a start to heal the deep wound inflicted by residential schools.

By Catholic Register Editorial

Sr. Helena Burns: Dealing with ‘the gender talk’

Parents generally loathe having “the sex talk” with their children. Today they will also need to have “the gender talk.” Let me explain.

By Sr. Helena Burns, FSP

Robert Kinghorn: Little by little, broken lives can be healed

Have you ever had an experience in your life and you are not sure if you dreamt it or lived it? Mine goes back at least 50 years and it is as vivid today as if it happened yesterday.

By Robert Kinghorn

Peter Stockland: Kamloops discovery wallops the Church

There’s a unique wallop in seeing your hometown linked by national and international media to the finding of a “mass grave” full of children.

By Peter Stockland

A priest gives a blessing following a funeral Mass.

Francis Campbell: Setting course on road back to normal

A glimmer of light is now visible at the end of our 15-month-long tunnel of unnatural existence.

By Francis Campbell

Readers Speak Out: June 6, 2021

Rights violated

June is the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ. Recently, the Toronto Catholic District School Board passed a motion to fly the rainbow flag and celebrate Pride month in June. We believe the vote was wrong on moral and legal grounds.

Editorial: Take action — now

It came like a punch in the gut. The news of the discovery of the bodies of 215 children on the grounds of the Kamloops Indian Residential School have shaken us to the core. How could this happen in Canada? How could this happen under the roof of an institution run by Catholic religious orders? Despite all the stories of abuse at residential schools, despite the chronicling of horrors in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report of 2015, despite the history of systemic racism that has victimized Canada’s Indigenous people … this news rips opens wounds that have not even come close to healing.