July 25, 2022
Madam Governor General. Mr. Prime Minister. Dear Indigenous Peoples of Maskwacis and of this land of Canada. Dear brothers and sisters.
I have been waiting to come here and be with you. Here, from this place associated with painful memories, I would like to begin what I consider a penitential pilgrimage. I have come to your native lands to tell you in person of my sorrow, to implore God’s forgiveness, healing, and reconciliation, to express my closeness and to pray with you and for you.
June 24, 2021
The order released a statement June 23 saying they have signed a memorandum of understanding with the Royal B.C. Museum that will “provide enhanced access” of their “private archival records” to the museum and to the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre at UBC.
June 24, 2021
Recent developments at an unmarked gravesite near a former residential school in B.C. have prompted many questions about certain pieces of Canadian history and what work can be done to make amends.
Less than one month before word of this gravesite hit the news, the Jesuit Forum for Social Faith and Justice released a resource aiming to help guide some of those conversations. Listening to Indigenous Voices launched in English April 28 and French May 4.
June 10, 2021
Canada’s Catholic bishops are hoping a delegation of Indigenous people will meet with Pope Francis before the end of the year.
A statement Thursday from the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops said the bishops have been working for more than two years on a pastoral visit that will include “the participation of a diverse group of Elders/Knowledge Keepers, residential school survivors and youth from across the country.”
June 10, 2021
Members of the Tla’Amin Nation joined their sorrow with the Tk’emlúps te Secwe̓pemc peoples at an outdoor memorial in Powell River to honour those who died at residential schools.
June 10, 2021
Speaking with Tina House of APTN News, Archbishop Miller said he was “very sorry” and wanted to apologize “because of the harm that in the name of the Church that I love and serve, there were people … that betrayed your trust. Because I am in a place of responsibility of the Church, I want to tell you how sorry I am.”
June 10, 2021
When news of a burial site at Kamloops Indian Residential School reached the First Nations community of Seabird Island, local elders handed out potted pansies as gestures of honour and remembrance.