Month: April 2016

Source: http://www.cccb.ca/site/eng/media-room/statements-a-letters/4446-catholic-responses-to-truth-and-reconciliation-commission-call-to-action-48-and-questions-regarding-the-doctrine-of-discovery

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops regarding the Catholic responds to the Doctrine of Discovery.

The text considers and repudiates illegitimate concepts and principles used by Europeans to justify the seizure of land previously held by Indigenous Peoples and often identified by the terms Doctrine of Discovery and terra nullius.

• Link to A Catholic Response to TRC Call to Action 48 (On Adopting and Implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples) (PDF)
• Link to The “Doctrine of Discovery” and Terra Nullius: A Catholic Response (PDF)

Both documents appeal to all Catholics — laity, members of institutes of consecrated life and of societies of apostolic life, deacons, priests, and Bishops — to make seven commitments in order to “continue to walk together with Indigenous Peoples in building a more just society where their gifts and those of all people are nurtured and honoured.” These commitments include:

• Working with Catholic educational institutions and formation programs in telling the history and experience of Indigenous Peoples
• Working with seminaries and other formation centres to promote a “culture of encounter” by including the history of the Indian Residential Schools and of Canadian missionary work with its “weaknesses and strengths”
• Encouraging partnerships between Indigenous groups and health care facilities
• Encouraging a restorative justice model within the criminal justice system
• Supporting the national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women
• Deepening relationships, dialogue and collaboration with Indigenous People
• Inviting Catholic parishes and institutions to become better acquainted with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

March 31, 2016

• Link to an interview with Bishop Donald Bolen on the two texts (PDF)
• Link to the one-page summary of the Catholic responses (PDF)
• Link to The Catholic Church and the TRC
  (op-ed article by the Most Rev. Donald Bolen, Bishop of Saskatoon)
• Link to an interview with Bishop Donald Bolen on Salt + Light TV