Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent
March 7th, 2023
Call to Action: 58
58. We call upon the Pope to issue an apology to Survivors, their families, and communities for the Roman Catholic Church’s role in the spiritual, cultural, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis children in Catholic-run residential schools. We call for that apology to be similar to the 2010 apology issued to Irish victims of abuse and to occur within one year of the issuing of this Report and to be delivered by the Pope in Canada.
Suggestions for Almsgiving
The 2023 Lenten Calendar is a project of CTA's Indigenous Solidarity Collective, a working group that addresses the Catholic Church's historical and current role in colonialization. To support more projects from working groups like this one, please consider making a contribution!
Tuesday, Mar. 7, 2023
Church Apologies and Reconciliation
Call To Action's 2023 Lenten Calendar is a collaboration between the Indigenous Solidarity Collective and Anti-Racism Team (ART). This calendar provides more than 40 days of prayer and study to lead members into action and solidarity with Indigenous communities. For holy days and Sundays during Lent, we'll publish a reflection from an ART or Indigenous Solidarity Collective member on why we're committed to undoing racism and Indigenous oppression in our own communities and biases and what it means to do this work as Catholics. Following each meditation or reflection, we will feature a call to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.
In Matthew’s Gospel, we are treated to the angry Jesus, the Jesus who acknowledges the authority of the Scribes and Pharisees but warns that they must be held accountable for lapses and errors, for losing sight of the flock, and for being poor shepherds. He ends his rant with his now familiar warning that, “The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
Imagine a Church where the hierarchy actually prostrated themselves in front of the people in supplication for forgiveness for the Church’s role in the disruption and mistreatment of Indigenous children. Would it be so hard to apologize, to take responsibility, to ask for forgiveness and an opportunity to remedy or somehow make reparations?
Who have I hurt in my own life in my pursuit of prestige or power? To whom do I owe an apology, and appeal for a chance to make things right somehow?
And, how seriously do I intend to hold our hierarchy accountable for the sins of the past?
—Meditation by Indigenous Solidarity Collective member Mary Ann Reed
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