Vatican returns traditional rites to Canadian Catholic bishops on ‘historic day’
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A century-old Inuvialiait Kayak used for Beluga and whale hunting, along with 61 other cultural items from First Nations, Méti and Inuit communities are being held in Canada on December 6.
Pope Leo xioni has a traditional horn for the bishops, said a Saturday morning statement by the Vatican and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB).
The announcement was made after a meeting at the Holy See between the Pope and the CCCB delegation, including its President, Archbishop Richard Smith, and Bishop Jean Vézina, general secretary.
“At the end of the journey established by Pope Francis that includes his apostolic journey in Canada in 2023, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV, respect represents the symbol of the religion of dialogue, respect and” said the statement.
The Pope also presented the items to the CCCB, which is committed to ensuring that these artefacts are well protected, respected and preserved. “
“The CCCB will continue, as soon as possible, to transfer these artifacts to the indigenous organizations (NIOs). The nios will ensure that the artisans are integrated into their communities.
Joyce Napier is Canada’s ambassador to the Holy See who is part of the Canadian government’s effort to help restore cultural objects.
“Today is a historic day,” Napier said.
“There are a lot of discussions with the Vatican and the CCCB, and it was clear that the Vatican wants to bring things back,” with Pope Francis’ illness putting the talks on hold, he added.
Napier said the items, now in the middle of the Vatican museum, will be assembled in crates and flown to Montreal via Frankfurt, Canada on a Dec. 6 flight.
From there, they will be sent to the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Que.
(Alessandra Tarantino/The Associated Press)
After years of calls for repatriation, the movement is seen as an important step for indigenous communities where their children have been taken for decades and forced to go to their residential schools, where abuse was rampant.
The return is planned as a gift of the church-to-Church “,” which Vatican spokesman, Matteo Brunis, how the Vatican returns cultural objects, allowing them to avoid setting the front of cultural objects or communities.
In 2023, a year after Pope Francis’ “Pentinent” trip to Canada where he apologized for some members of the church in residential schools, Francis acknowledged the importance of restoring certain things, many consider sacred by some first nations. During the meetings in Italy, the Prime Minister of Canada at the time, Justin Trudeau, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mélanie Joly pressed the Pope and the Vatican Secretary of State to return the cultural objects.
The kayak was among the 100,000 items originally sent to Rome in 1925 for a world exhibition organized by Pope Pius Xi, who invited Catholic missionaries to send “examples of their lives where men work. Other notable items include a wamvam belt from Kanestake, Que.
Many objects came from indigenous communities during forced conversions, cultural repression and the boarding school system in Canada, and most remained inside the storage rooms of the Vatican Museums.
Indigenous leaders insist that celebrations must take place before the artefacts make the journey home.
Some have criticized the “Church-to-Church” approach and insisted that communities be directly involved in the vision.
