SASKATOON — Archbishop Don Bolen of the Diocese of Regina regrets the delay of the scheduled meeting between Indigenous Peoples and Pope Francis in the Vatican but sees the postponement as a time to further prepare for the long-planned dialogue, which was supposed to take place last week.
A Canadian delegation — composed of representatives from the Assembly of First Nations, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, Métis National Council, and several members of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops — was scheduled to meet the pontiff from Dec. 17 to 20 but was postponed due to health concerns caused by the COVID-19’s Omicron variant.
Survivors of Canada’s residential school system , Elders, Knowledge Keepers, the youth, and selected members of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops are also part of the delegation.
Bolen, in a taped message for the final week of the Advent season, said it took three years to plan the meeting, but it was unfortunate that everything is again in the waiting mode due to the pandemic.
"Through this Advent season, we have also turned our attention to another journey, that of the Indigenous delegation to Rome to meet with Pope Francis,” said Bolen. “The encounter had been in the planning for three years, but the pandemic has caused one delay after another and we find ourselves yet again in the waiting mode. But this waiting, just as in the season of Advent, needn't and shouldn't be a passive waiting. It can be a time of expectation, preparation, and transformation.”
The season of Advent is a four-week long preparation and expectant waiting for the celebration of Christ’s birth as observed by the Catholic church and other Christian denominations on their liturgical calendar.
“We trust that God can turn all things to the good and the delay itself can serve as a reminder that the path to reconciliation and right relationships is long — with forks on the road, bumps and detours. The walking together is more important than any particular destination along the way and living this particular moment as faithfully and generously as possible, is the task the Lord has given us now,” said Bolen.
“The preparation for the trip to Rome has included the experience of listening circles, held in different parts of the country, where bishops have been able to hear firsthand of varied and at times brutally painful indigenous experiences of church and where we have seen a new the honesty and resilience, strength and wisdom of indigenous people and indigenous ways.”
He added he believes the delegates will get the chance to finally meet with the Pope.
“When the delegates and Pope Francis will eventually have the opportunity to meet, each delegate will have stories to tell; stories carrying a lifetime of experiences sufferings and joys. We pray that their encounter will point us to renewing ways for all of us to walk together on this land.”
Bolen then mentioned several meetings between Indigenous Peoples and former popes before that “can provide some context for the forthcoming visit.”
St. John Paul II was successful on his second attempt to visit Fort Simpson in the Northern Territories in 1987. One of the longest-serving pontiffs had previously tried to visit Fort Simpson but poor weather conditions prevented their plane from landing.
“There he [John Paul II] acknowledged that, for untold generations, Indigenous Peoples have lived in a relationship of trust with the Creator. He encouraged them in addressing the challenge of promoting: ‘the religious, cultural, and social values that will uphold your human dignity and ensure your future well being. Your sense of sharing your understanding of human community rooted in the family, the highly valued relationships between your elders and your young people, your spiritual view of creation which calls for responsible care and protection of the environment — all of these traditional aspects of your way of life need to be preserved and cherished.”
Bolen added that Pope Benedict XVI also met with then AFN National Chief Phil Fontaine in 2009 and Pope Francis addressed the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas and Bolivia in 2015 must also be recognized as important moments of encounters.
“These encounters acknowledge the suffering and injustice experienced by Indigenous Peoples. Today, further steps are needed to come to terms with the past and to move forward in a good way. It is timely to ponder the long journey of truth and reconciliation, as we as church, prepare to celebrate the extraordinary decision and act of God to come into the world to take flesh, to embrace the human condition,” said Bolen.
“The incarnation, God's way of healing and redeeming a wounded humanity by walking with us, accompanying us with mercy in our pain and in our joy, this has everything to do with how the church is being called to walk with Indigenous peoples today in this land. God walks with us. The Risen Lord is neither afraid nor reluctant to come walk with us in the messiness and brokenness of our lives, the pain and complexity of this moment in time. Indeed, because of the Incarnation, we believe that Jesus is at home and all of that and asked us to be at home in it as well. And God asks us to walk with each other in the same spirit, immersing ourselves in the challenges, struggles and complexities of our histories and our lives.”
He asked the Catholic faithful to pray for a meaningful outcome of the soon-to-be-rescheduled meeting between the Indigenous Peoples delegation of Canada and the Pope.
“Giving birth to something new is not easy. It is messy and traumatic, but with every birth, God is doing something new.
“So, let us ask God to allow something new to be born out of our efforts to deal honestly with the past, to adopt a deep posture of listening, to learn from the wisdom of Indigenous ways, and to learn how to walk in a deep and committed solidarity with indigenous peoples, as the Creator guides them — guides us all — to a future full of hope.”
