OTTAWA -- The appointment of Mary Simon as Canada’s first Indigenous Governor-General is being hailed as a meaningful step towards reconciliation.
‘Intolerable’ violence no answer for anger
By Quinton Amundson, The Catholic RegisterWith 20 churches across Canada — mostly Catholic — torched by mid-July in the fallout of the discovery of unmarked graves at former residential schools, the silence from political leaders has been deafening, says Deacon Andrew Bennett.
Church fires, vandalism condemned
By Quinton Amundson, The Catholic RegisterThe Catholic Civil Rights League (CCRL) has condemned the rash of church fires and vandalism that has taken place across Canada, particularly in the west, since the discovery of graves at former residential schools.
Saskatchewan bishops plan fundraising for residential school survivors
By Catholic Register StaffThe Catholic bishops of Saskatchewan have begun the process for a new fundraising campaign to support survivors of residential schools.
Park honours caregivers from past pandemic
By Wendy-Ann Clarke, The Catholic RegisterA virtual ceremony will be held July 16 to open Grasett Park in downtown Toronto to commemorate the physicians, nurses, clergy and other caregivers who paid the ultimate sacrifice in caring for the influx of Irish migrants struck down by typhus in 1847.
‘Raw truth’ must come out for healing to begin
By Michael Swan, The Catholic Register“Education got us into this; education will get us out of this.” Though those words were first spoken and repeated often by Truth and Reconciliation Commission chair Sen. Murray Sinclair, they’ve become the personal motto of St. Mary’s University Elder in Residence Casey Eagle Speaker.
A lifetime of love and giving back
By Wendy-Ann Clarke, The Catholic RegisterAt the start of the pandemic, retired surgeon Dr. Frank Browne got up at 5 a.m. ready to head into the hospital to tend to the sick. He had heard the call to retired doctors to assist as COVID-19 was taking its toll on the health-care system.
Oblates pledge transparency on residential schools
By Michael Swan, The Catholic RegisterIn the wake of the Cowessess discovery of up to 751 unmarked graves, Western Canada’s Oblate missionary order is embracing a new level of transparency, making more documents about daily operations at the order’s 48 residential schools across Canada available.
Bellegarde hopes papal meeting will lead to residential school apology
ByOTTAWA -- There is no guarantee that a delegation to the Vatican will lead to a papal apology for the Catholic Church’s role in Canada’s residential school system but the Grand Chief of the Assembly of First Nations is praying it will.
For reconciliation’s sake, education needed
By Wendy-Ann Clarke, The Catholic RegisterFor educator Vanessa Pinto, the discovery of unmarked graves outside of residential schools has only strengthened her resolve to raise awareness of Indigenous history, culture and perspectives in the classroom.
Lacroix speaks of hope for healing at annual First Nations Sunday Mass
By Philippe Vaillancourt, Catholic News ServiceSTE.-ANNE-DE-BEAUPRÉ, Que. -- At the annual First Nations Sunday Mass, Cardinal Gérald Lacroix acknowledged that the revelations and realizations surrounding unmarked graves at former residential schools run by Catholic communities “have brought to light a very dark page in the history of our country. Decisions and behaviours, both by the government and the churches,” have contributed to the suffering “of our brothers and sisters.”