The Vatican on Saturday handed over 62 artefacts linked to the Indigenous peoples of Canada to the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), marking what it described as “a concrete sign of dialogue, respect and fraternity.”
The return of the items is the latest step in ongoing reconciliation efforts between the Catholic Church and Indigenous communities.
According to a Vatican statement, the objects were formally gifted following a meeting between Pope Leo and a delegation of Canadian bishops led by CCCB president Bishop Pierre Goudreault.
The Canadian bishops said they will “as soon as possible” transfer the artefacts to Canada’s National Indigenous Organizations (NIOs), which will then oversee their return to their respective communities of origin.
The repatriated items were originally sent to Rome by Catholic missionaries in 1925 for an exhibition convened by Pope Pius XI that showcased more than 100,000 objects from around the world.
Nearly half of that collection later formed the Missionary Ethnological Museum, which was incorporated into the Vatican Museums during the 1970s.
The return of the artefacts follows the late Pope Francis’ 2022 apology to Indigenous peoples for the Catholic Church’s role in Canada’s residential school system, where thousands of children suffered abuse and many died, often buried in unmarked graves.
Repatriation of cultural items held by the Vatican was among the key issues raised during discussions between Indigenous leaders and Church officials.
The CCCB said the process aims to ensure the artefacts are not only returned but also “properly reconnected with the communities to whom they belong.”
Source: Reuters
Written By Rodney Mbua
