To face the challenge of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, Canada’s bishops will need to reinvent themselves.
Canada
Posted inFaith, Faith and Reason
When we got a new bishop, he didn’t know about our archdiocese’s history of abuse. Then he listened to me and other victims.
When victims and survivors of sexual abuse are blamed, marginalized, stigmatized or silenced, they can be traumatized all over again. The Archdiocese of Regina is trying something new in its work with survivors.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Truck protest against vaccine mandates is polarizing Canada — and clergy have mixed reactions
The main body of protesters continued a diesel-rumbling siege of Parliament Hill, igniting fire pits on city streets and sounding truck horns at all hours, driving local residents to despair.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Pope Francis will meet survivors from Canadian church-run boarding schools at the Vatican this spring
A meeting at the Vatican between Pope Francis and Indigenous people who were abused at church-run boarding schools in Canada has been rescheduled for late March and early April after being postponed due to the pandemic.
Posted inInterviews, Politics & Society
Retired Canadian archbishop: ‘We will not regain our credibility’ if the church doesn’t confront Indigenous abuse
Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, S.J., speaks about the need for the Canadian church to apologize to Indigenous population for its role in abuse at residential schools.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Canadians are losing patience with the unvaccinated — and the Catholic Church is sending mixed signals
Canadians have embraced coronavirus vaccination in large numbers and are feeling a deepening exasperation with the unvaccinated.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Explainer: Why did the Catholic Church cooperate with the Canadian government’s abuse of Indigenous children?
The discoveries of unmarked burials have left many wondering what motivated Catholics to participate in a colonial system that would be responsible for the loss and violation of thousands of Indigenous children.
Posted inFaith, News
Catholic bishops in Canada apologize ‘unequivocally’ to Indigenous peoples for the suffering at residential schools
The bishops’ apology is the latest expression of remorse from the Canadian arms of the Catholic Church but still falls short of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s call for the pope himself to apologize in Canada.
Posted inPolitics & Society, Short Take
Liberals, Conservatives, Catholics, Indigenous? Nobody won the election in Canada.
While the Catholic Church made headlines all summer—for all the wrong reasons— it did not end up playing a crucial role in this election campaign.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
‘An election about nothing’: What to look for in Canada’s first vote since the pandemic
Justin Trudeau has never offered a cogent explanation of his decision to call a snap election. Voters have called Canada’s 44th election the “Seinfeld election”—an election about nothing.