Recent excavations at suspected mass grave sites of Indigenous children at Canadian residential schools have failed to uncover any human remains. Some academics and politicians say this development has raised doubts about the veracity of claims surrounding these alleged graves. Minegoziibe Anishinabe, also known as Pine Creek First Nation, conducted excavations at Our Lady of Read more
Indigenous leaders have responded to the recent Vatican acknowledgement that the Doctrine of Discovery was not a teaching of the Catholic Church, stating that it should be just the beginning. The doctrine was supported by papal bulls (edicts) that legitimised colonial actions in seizing Indigenous lands, and it has been used to deny Indigenous peoples Read more
The number of calls being made to crisis lines in Canada has doubled following the Pope’s apology for the ‘deplorable evil’ committed by members of the Catholic Church. “After (the apology) people just came in droves to us,” said Nola Jeffrey, executive director of Tsow-Tun Le Lum Society, a substance abuse and trauma help centre Read more
Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission into the historic abuse of Indigenous people demanded apologies. Pope Francis apologised on Monday. Not everyone thinks it was enough. Some regard Francis’s words as a “historic” moment of reckoning for the 150,000 Indigenous students forced to attend residential schools. But a former judge and senator who chaired the 2015 Read more
Residential school survivors from the Canadian province of Manitoba preparing to travel to Edmonton for the Pope’s first stop in Canada have said, ‘We can forgive, but we’ll never forget.’ Linda Daniels, 68, is one of those travelling to see Pope Francis. She was forced to attend the Sandy Bay Residential School, and is nervous Read more
The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) has announced the special fund to support healing and reconciliation efforts with Indigenous communities has begun accepting proposals. The Indigenous Reconciliation Fund was established in 2022 to support and advance healing and reconciliation initiatives with Indigenous communities, following the Canadian bishops’ pledge to do so last year. The Read more
The head of the Anglican Communion told a gathering of Canadian residential school survivors Saturday he was sorry for the church’s role in the “terrible crime” that was committed. The Rev. Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, visited the James Smith Cree Nation and heard stories shared by residential school survivors. “It was the church Read more
Members of the Métis National Council, a Canadian Indigenous people, gave Pope Francis a set of beaded moccasins and asked him to walk with them on the path of truth, justice and healing. Mitch Case (pictured with Cassidy Carron), a member of the provisional council of the Metis Nation of Ontario, said the gift is Read more
New Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller is stunned that Ottawa abandoned its appeal of a ruling releasing the Catholic Church from its settlement obligations to residential school survivors. Miller says he wants to get to the bottom of the ruling, “I am as puzzled as everyone,” he told The Canadian Press in a recent interview.” Read more