Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent
March 20th, 2023
Call to Action: 71
71. We call upon all chief coroners and provincial vital statistics agencies that have not provided to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada their records on the deaths of Aboriginal children in the care of residential school authorities to make these documents available to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.
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!
Monday, Mar. 20, 2023
Missing Children and Burial Information
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.
Unmarked graves and burial sites of children who were sent to residential schools have been uncovered in Canada since the 1970s. However, it was the newly discovered mass grave at Kamloops Indian Residential School in Canada in 2021, among others found in recent months, that sparked horror and. shame in Canadians. This served as the catalyst for Pope Francis' visit to Canada during the summer of 2022 to make a formal apology to the victims of these residential schools.
This is a complex and tragic part of our history. The burying of the dead is part of our corporal works of mercy as Catholics. We should understand the importance of giving a respectful resting place to the deceased. It is our obligation to extend those same mercies so that Indigenous communities and families can properly grieve.
—Meditation by Indigenous Solidarity Collective Revalon Wesson
As part of your Lenten practice, please consider donating to one or more of the
following organizations: