Thursday of the Third Week of Lent
March 16th, 2023
Call to Action: 67
67. We call upon the federal government to provide funding to the Canadian Museums Association to undertake, in collaboration with Aboriginal peoples, a national review of museum policies and best practices to determine the level of compliance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and to make recommendations.
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!
Thursday, Mar. 16, 2023
Museums and Archives
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.
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, especially in Articles 11 and 12, states that Indigenous peoples have "the right to maintain, protect and develop the past, present and future manifestations of their cultures." The declaration also claims that Indigenous peoples should have the freedom "to manifest, practice, develop and teach their spiritual and religious traditions, customs and ceremonies; [along with] the right to maintain, protect, and have access in privacy to their religious and cultural sites."
Autonomy and respecting the ways of another are necessary for just relationships. What would relationships between Native peoples and settlers look like if artifacts, ceremonial objects, and ways of being were respected, rather than stolen or co-opted?
What would the world look like if Aboriginal peoples were the individuals trusted to cultivate, share, and teach—as well as protect and maintain privately—sacred customs, traditions, and practices?
—Meditation by Indigenous Solidarity Collective member Scott Pyzik
As part of your Lenten practice, please consider donating to one or more of the
following organizations: