Native Peoples of America &

The Catholic Church

On the Feast of Saints Anne & Joachim, Pope Francis ended the day at Lac Ste. Anne, a site known to the Nakota Sioux as “the Lake of God.” For centuries, Indigenous Peoples have visited this site for healing.
There, the Pope observed,

“In this blessed place, where harmony and peace reign, we present to you the disharmony of our experiences, the terrible effects of colonization, the indelible pain of so many families, grandparents and children. Help us to be healed of our wounds.”

We share a summary of his trip compiled from several sources including America Magazine, the NY Times, National Catholic Register, Associated Press, Vatican News, and NPR. On Monday, Pope Francis issued a historic apology for the Catholic Church's role in running boarding schools in Canada where many Indigenous children were abused and died. Of 139 of those schools, 66 were operated by Catholic religious orders. 

According to NPR, more than 150,000 native Canadian children were forced to attend government-funded Christian schools from the 19th century until the 1970s in an effort to colonize and isolate them from the influence of their homes and culture. The aim was to Christianize and assimilate them into mainstream society, which previous Canadian governments considered superior.

"I humbly beg forgiveness for the evil committed by so many Christians against the Indigenous peoples,"

Pope Francis said to a large crowd of Indigenous people in Maskwacis, Alberta - the site of a former Ermineskin Residential school, now largely torn down. While in Edmonton at Sacred Heart Parish, the pontiff shared:
 

“The indigenous peoples attribute a powerful cosmic significance to the cardinal points, seen not only as geographical reference points but also as dimensions that embrace all reality and indicate the way to heal it, as embodied by the so-called ‘medicine wheel.’ This church appropriates that symbolism of the cardinal points and gives it a Christological meaning. Jesus, through the four extremities of his cross, has embraced the four cardinal points and has brought together the most distant peoples; Jesus has brought healing and peace to all things. On the cross, he accomplished God's plan: to reconcile all things.” 

According to the Canadian government, these Christian schools were notorious for separating children from their parents, inflicting physical, sexual and mental abuse, erasing native languages and more. The legacy of that abuse and isolation from family has been cited by Indigenous leaders as a root cause of the epidemic rates of alcohol and drug addiction now on Canadian reservations.  

The discoveries of hundreds of potential burial sites at former schools in the past year drew international attention to the legacy of the schools in Canada and their counterparts in the United States. The discoveries prompted Francis to comply with the truth commission's call for him to apologize on Canadian soil for the Catholic Church's role.

In his pilgrimage of penitential reconciliation, Pope Francis models for us all, the difficult path of acknowledging past wrongs and moving toward healing. Let us pray with him for Divine help, acknowledging as he does, 

"...that this requires effort, care and concrete actions on our part; but we also know that we cannot do this alone. We rely on you and on the intercession of your mother and your grandmother. Yes, because mothers and grandmothers help to heal the wounds of our hearts."

Director of Religious Education at Our Lady of Fatima in the heart of the Navajo reservation, Sr. Theresa is among the many sisters working with native peoples whose salary is supported by Catholic Extension. She serves roughly 800 in her parish community. The parish is serving as a vital distribution point for food, among families experiencing food insecurity. 
She knows well the living situations of her community members and attributes the spread of COVID-19 to the fact that in many households, multiple generations live under one roof.

Office Manager at Saint Kateri Tekakwitha Roman Catholic Missions Parish in South Tucson, AZ St. Kateri is a parish support by Catholic Extension. Veronica is part of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe in Tucson. We will also be introduced to her mother, Odilia Rivera, who will be sharing with us a traditional Pascua Yaqui recipe.

Director of Religious Education for St. Francis Mission on the Rosebud Reservation in the Diocese of Rapid City, South Dakota. Her greatest hope and dream for all the young people there is for them to learn more about God and Jesus. She wants them to be able to learn and practice the faith. “It’ll inspire them to go on to be better people. They’ll want to go on to school; they’ll want to go on and do better for their community and for our people. I’m hoping we’re making a difference by teaching them.”

A Montana native, Sr. Mary has worked tirelessly with the poor and marginalized. Currently, she directs the ministries of Angela's Piazza in Billings, Montana. Angela’s Piazza is a “drop-in center” for Native American women, living in poverty.  Sr. Mary founded Angela’s Piazza in 1998 and has directed it ever since.  The center serves more than 600 women a year.  Apart from meeting immediate needs with food and clothes, Angela’s Piazza offers several empower-ment and companionship programs to Native American women, including mentorship for young women and a version of the 12-step program.