Archbishop Bolen shares insights into historic Papal visit to Canada

On Wednesday, September 21, the Archbishop of Regina Donald Bolen visited the College to share his insights into the historic Papal visit to Canada. In July 2022, Pope Francis visited Canada and met with representatives and community members of various Indigenous First Nations and Metis peoples.

A key part of Pope Francis’ visit was to offer an apology re: role the Catholic Church played in the Government sponsored Residential School systems. Archbishop Donald Bolen was a member of the Catholic delegation during the Papal visit.

In his talk to our students and staff, the Archbishop highlighted a pathway of four ways to move forward following what he and the Catholic delegation heard from the Residential School Survivors:
1) A request for Truth Telling – honesty and clarity about what happened at Residential schools;
2) Be an ally to strengthen Indigenous language, culture and traditions;
3) Using the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as a guideline. Canadian systems need to support the legal rights of Indigenous peoples, e.g.: right to a just stettlement for land;
4) There needs to be true recognition of Indigenous wisdom, e.g.: understanding of the land and creation; There is a great need for the world to learn from this wisdom.

WATCH the Archbishop's full talk to our Hounds here: https://youtu.be/dXTCejYGlLU
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Athol Murray College of Notre Dame ·

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