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.

When the Zapatista Army rose up in Mexico’s southernmost state of Chiapas and captured the city of San Cristóbal de las Casas on New Year’s Day 1994, the Jesuits understood their frustrations and their hopes. But they had their doubts, too.

A Catholic organization committed to improving relations between the Church and Canada’s Indigenous peoples has issued a challenge to Catholics to help revive Indigenous languages. 

Canadian Josianne Gauthier is General Secretary of CIDSE, an international network  of Catholic social justice organizations, and was one of the delegates to last month’s Synod on Pan-Amazon Region. Here is what she told the Synod in an address:

SAO PAULO -- Less than two weeks before the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon was scheduled to begin at the Vatican, the Brazilian bishops' Indigenous Missionary Council reported that the number of indigenous land invasions and indigenous murdered in Brazil in 2018 soared.

In his work with the Mennonite Church of Canada, Steve Heinrichs encourages congregations across Canada to seek reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. He urges Mennonites to learn about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 calls to action and to study the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

LETICIA, Colombia – Rafael Noteno Capinoa, a Kichwa Indian, worries about what could happen to the forest around his village on Peru's Napo River if an oil company begins drilling in the area.

For Mary Jo Leddy the question on the cover of her new book leads immediately to other questions. Why Are You Here? is Leddy’s way of asking Canadians, “Who are we? And who do we want to be?”

The cover headline on the December issue of Sojourners magazine caught my eye — “Decolonizing the Spiritual Life: Contemplation, healing, and activism centred on people of colour.” It pointed to an article inside the U.S. magazine, an interview with Teresa Mateus of the Mystic Soul Project.

VATICAN – The leaders of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops said the concerns of the indigenous peoples in Canada and the bishops' updated sexual abuse policies were among the issues they spoke about with Pope Francis.

Louis Riel and his legacy in our nation’s history are well-documented, if not a bit fragmented.

I love my Church, but I admit I have at times found it difficult dealing with its sins against the Indigenous community.

When Indigenous people from across Canada and beyond took centre stage, conducting the first of two opening ceremonies Nov. 1 at the Parliament of World Religions in Toronto, it was far more than a token appearance.

EDMONTON – Betty Letendre recalls a time when Indigenous elders didn’t want to come into Edmonton, feeling tired of the discrimination and misconceptions that they faced on a daily basis. 

MASKWACIS, Alberta – Young. Indigenous. Committed to the Catholic faith.