Canada’s bishops welcomed the 2023 National Day of Truth and Reconciliation as an opportunity to reflect on the tragic legacy of residential schools and pray as brothers and sisters for continued healing with the country’s Indigenous peoples.
In a statement released for the Sept. 30 national holiday, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops invited the Catholic faithful to “enter into this day with a spirit of charity and compassion, as followers of Jesus Christ, members of his ‘living body of reconciliation,’ so that together with all Canadians, we may continue to walk forward with Indigenous Peoples on the path of truth, justice, healing, reconciliation, and hope.”
The statement from the bishops’ executive committee cited Pope Saint John Paul II’s 1987 visit to Fort Simpson in the Northwest Territories, where he spoke about the spiritual hunger of Canada’s Indigenous peoples.
Quoting from his Encyclical Letter Redemptor Hominis, Pope John Paul said, “The soul of the native peoples of Canada is hungry for the Spirit of God, because it is hungry for justice, peace, love, goodness, fortitude, responsibility and human dignity.”
The bishops’ statement ended by recalling the words of Pope Francis during his visit to Canada in 2022: “The Church is the house where we ‘conciliate’ anew, where we meet to start over and to grow together. It is the place where we stop thinking as individuals and acknowledge that we are brothers and sisters of one another.”
