A First Nations choir sings at Mass to mark the Easter Sunday signing of a Sacred Covenant between the Kamloops First Nation, the Archdiocese of Vancouver, and the Diocese of Kamloops. There appear to be no plans for other Canadian bishops to immediately follow suit. (Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc photo)
By Anna Farrow Montreal Correspondent Though Vancouver Archbishop Michael Miller called the Easter accord between the Kamloops First Nation and two British Columbia Catholic dioceses a significant and historic “milestone,” there appear to be no plans for other Canadian bishops to immediately follow suit. Andrew Ehrkamp, director of communications for the Archdiocese of Edmonton, noted...
Former Kamloops Chief Manny Jules presents Archbishop Miller with a stole marked with symbols Tk’emlúps historical events. On Easter Sunday, Archbishop Miller and Kamloops Bishop Joseph Nguyen signed a Sacred Covenant with the Kamloops First Nation to forge a new relationship between the Church and Indigenous peoples in British Columbia. (Matthew Furtado/Archdiocese of Vancouver)
The journey to the Easter Sunday signing in Kamloops of a sacred covenant between the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc (Kamloops First Nation) and Catholic bishops from Vancouver and Kamloops took several years, and it was the efforts of two men that began the process, say Kamloops Chief Rosanne Casimir and Vancouver Archbishop J. Michael Miller. Both...
A message to Vancouver Archbishop J. Michael Miller conveys greetings and a blessing for participants of the reconciliation event in Kamloops on Easter Sunday. (Archdiocese of Vancouver)
Pope Francis has sent prayers and greetings to the Kamloops First Nation, the Archdiocese of Vancouver and the Diocese of Kamloops to mark the signing of their Sacred Covenant on Easter Sunday. In a message to Vancouver Archbishop J. Michael Miller, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said, “His Holiness Pope Francis sends...
Undated photo of Father Jean-Marie-Raphael Le Jeune’s grave at the Oblate Cemetery in Mission. The Archdiocese of Vancouver and the Kamloops Indian band discovered a mutual respect for Father Le Jeune, which will be acknowledged on Easter Sunday at a reconciliation event in Kamloops. (B.C. Catholic Archives)
Almost three years ago, reports of underground anomalies near a former Kamloops residential school caused a firestorm of media mistruths about mass graves, which became a focus of Pope Francis’ visit to Canada in 2022. Now, the Church and the Kamloops First Nation are about to acknowledge historical and recent painful experiences and continue “walking...
Rabbi Jonathan Infeld and Archbishop J. Michael Miller shake hands at a recent talk by the rabbi to Archdiocese of Vancouver employees. The rabbi expressed appreciation to the Archdiocese and Vancouver Police for their support of the Jewish community. (Arleen D Souza photos)
Anti-Semitic rhetoric has become so intense amid pro-Palestinian sentiment in Canada that a Vancouver rabbi is more concerned about the safety of his oldest son, currently on a Montreal university campus working to stop anti-Semitism, than about his middle child, who is currently living in Israel. Speaking to Archdiocese of Vancouver employees at the John...
Protesters in Toronto after reports of unmarked graves found at the former Kamloops Residential School in 2021. The new book Grave Error: How the Media Misled Us (and the Truth about Residential Schools), examines the truth behind the assumptions that followed. (Michael Swan/The Catholic Register)
Media buy-in drove graves’ social panic BY ANNA FARROW Montreal Correspondent In the newly published Grave Error: How the Media Misled Us (and the Truth about Residential Schools), C.P Champion and Tom Flanagan have assembled 18 essays that delve into the truth behind the widely adopted assumptions that followed the so-called May 2021 “discovery” of...
Twenty years after Philomena Fraser collected residential school stories for Amongst God’s Own, the Enduring Legacy of St. Mary’s Mission, she was able to revisit her work and find additional stories for the book’s republishing as St. Mary’s: The Legacy of an Indian Residential School. (St. Mary’s: The Legacy of an Indian Residential School.)
“People had never divulged what happened to them” at St. Mary’s Indian Residential School, chronicler Philomena Fraser says in an interview with The B.C. Catholic. “They had kept it secret, and I learned a lot.” Twenty years after collecting stories for a history of the Mission residential school entitled Amongst God’s Own, the Enduring Legacy of...
In the story of residential schools, “Catholics are victims too,” says author Terry Glavin. “The people who suffered in residential schools were Catholics.” Glavin spoke those words during an interview about the republishing of his 2002 book St. Mary’s: The Legacy of an Indian Residential School, which recounts the history of the former St. Mary’s Residential School...
Father Deacon Andrew Bennett addresses a fundraising breakfast for Catholic Pacific College in December. “Increasingly young adults see what the world is offering them, and they realize it’s not what they want,” he said. (Paul Schratz photos)
When it comes to supporting Catholic education, the audience that came to hear Father Deacon Andrew Bennett’s fundraising talk for Catholic Pacific College was as committed as it gets. By the time he had finished, however, they were not only aware of how much Canada needs inspired Catholic young people, but they could also see...
The B.C. government rolled out a plan Wednesday to provide euthanasia and assisted suicide at St. Paul’s Hospital – by making it available beside the hospital. The Ministry of Health announced it was taking over property beside the hospital to create a “clinical space” where St. Paul’s patients requesting euthanasia can receive it without having...
