5 min read

Indigenous Leaders Disgusted That Catholic Bishops Have Not Launched Reconciliation Fundraiser

"For God's sake, look at their history. Why do people expect anything different from them?”

Indigenous Leaders Disgusted That Catholic Bishops Have Not Launched Reconciliation Fundraiser
Happy Winter Solstice/Flickr.

From CBC News: Indigenous leaders say they are disgusted by the fact that the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) has not yet launched a $30-million fundraising campaign for reconciliation projects after promising that details would be released in November, CBC News reported Wednesday.

  • Catholic organizations played a key role in running Canada’s genocidal residential school system that forcibly separated Indigenous children from their families.

Chief Byron Louis of the Okanagan Indian Band told CBC: "For God's sake, look at their history. Why do people expect anything different from them?”

  • The CCCB first pledged to raise the $30 million back in September after more than 1,000 unmarked graves at former residential school sites – some of them formerly run by Catholic institutions – were located across Canada.

As noted by CBC, the pledge also followed a CBC News investigation that raised questions about a Catholic compensation deal reached in 2005 under the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement.

  • Chief Louis said Catholic officials could pay out $30 million immediately, noting that more than $300 million was set aside for Canadian church buildings at the same time the Church had agreed to compensate residential school survivors.

Louis said: “They are protecting their assets. These are not the actions of a church. This is a corporation.”

Read CBC News’ full story here.


This post is for paying subscribers only