ROME (CCN) — The return of 62 Indigenous artifacts to the Canadian bishops, held at the Vatican for more than 100 years, is “a milestone in the long journey of reconciliation and healing,” said Archbishop Richard Smith of Vancouver.
In an interview with America magazine, the archbishop underlined that the repatriation occurred during the Jubilee of Hope.
“This jubilee, like previous jubilees, wants to emphasize the importance of healing relationships,” he told America, after his audience with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican Nov. 15.
“It’s really on us to carry it forward, and we’re truly committed to do that,” he said.
Archbishop Smith met the pope, along with Bishop Pierre Goudreault of Sainte-Anne-de-al-Pocatière and president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), and Father Jean Vézina, CCCB general secretary.
Pope Leo formally entrusted the artifacts, including a whaling kayak, masks, moccasins and numerous etchings, to the Canadian bishops at this meeting.
Archbishop Smith said the role of the Canadian bishops has been to facilitate the whole process, “working with the Holy See, working with the Indigenous leaders to make this happen.”
The CCCB’s principal partner in the process has been the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, with which other Indigenous organizations were in agreement, due to the prominence in the collection of the Inuvialuit whaling kayak from the Western Arctic. Artifacts from First Nations, Métis and other Inuit communities are also among the collection.
According to a joint statement from the Holy See and the CCCB, the artifacts “are part of the patrimony received on the occasion of the Vatican Missionary Exhibition of 1925.”
Missionaries sent them to Rome between 1923 and 1925 for the exhibition encouraged by Pope Pius XI. They were later incorporated into the Vatican’s ethnological collection.
Their return marks “the conclusion of the journey initiated by Pope Francis,” who met repeatedly with Indigenous delegations before his 2022 “penitential pilgrimage” to Canada and his decision that they should be returned, the statement said.
Bishop Goudreault said Pope Leo’s decision to return the artifacts to the Canadian bishops rather than to the Canadian government or an Indigenous organization “is a tangible sign of his desire to help Canada’s bishops walk alongside Indigenous Peoples in a spirit of reconciliation during the Jubilee Year of Hope and beyond.”
Pope Leo “desires that this gift represent a concrete sign of dialogue, respect and fraternity,” the statement said.
Archbishop Smith recalled visiting the Vatican Museums with Indigenous representatives in March 2022, noting two categories of objects. The first consists of artifacts “that are not clearly designated as donations,” which make up the 62 items being returned through the bishops. The second consists of objects “that were clearly gifts to the pope through the years.”
“The Vatican is going to honour the will of the donor and keep [those that were clearly gifts] and care for them,” he said.
The CCCB said it will “proceed, as soon as possible, to transfer these artifacts to the National Indigenous Organizations,” ensuring they are reunited with their communities of origin.
The bishops also said they are committed to safeguarding, respecting and preserving the items in cooperation with the Directorate of Cultural Heritage of Vatican City State.
Archbishop Smith said he expects the CCCB “to be invited to be with the Indigenous leaders to witness the arrival of the artifacts in Canada.”
“We really want to leave it to the Indigenous leaders to be the first to see them,” he said, calling this event “another instance of our ‘walking together.’”
“We’re really grateful for the way the Indigenous peoples have invited us into the whole process,” he said.
The news of the return of the artifacts was welcomed by Canadians on pilgrimage to Rome at that time. “It is a great day for Canada in Rome,” Father Tim Hanley, chair of the Archdiocese of Toronto’s Jubilee Committee, told a group of Toronto pilgrims.
Joyce Napier, Canada’s ambassador to the Holy See, called it “an important and a right step.”
Napier was among the dignitaries attending a Mass later that day, during which Cardinal Francis Leo, archbishop of Toronto, took possession of his titular church, Santa Maria della Salute, in Rome’s Primavalle district.
Archbishop Smith and Bishop Goudreault concelebrated the evening Mass with Cardinal Leo, part of a full day of jubilee-related events for Canadian pilgrims and church leaders.
