Michael Swan

Canada's bishops wound up their first in-person meetings in three years with discussion of concrete steps toward reconciliation with Indigenous Canadians.

A date for a new papal statement on the Doctrine of Discovery, promised by Pope Francis on his way home from Canada to Rome, has not been announced. But whenever it happens, it is likely to address core concerns of Indigenous people in Canada and in many other parts of the world.

More than two dozen Indigenous delegates, accompanied by a handful of Canadian bishops, plan to meet with Pope Francis the last week of March. The trip to Rome, originally scheduled Dec. 17-20, was derailed by COVID-19.

A national framework for a five-year fundraising campaign to help with healing and reconciliation of residential school survivors and their communities is coming in the new year.

Encounter long sought by First Nations is put off again because of concerns about new COVID-19 variant.

In one hour gathered in a room with Pope Francis, 13 Assembly of First Nations delegates plan to lay down heavy burdens and raise up the hope of nations.

Jean Vanier, 90, founder of L'Arche communities and co-founder of Faith and Light, died May 7. Vanier had been suffering from cancer and was assisted at a L'Arche facility in Paris.

The funding tap is flowing again for Development and Peace, although it remains closed for 52 partner organizations that continue to be investigated for possible conflicts with Catholic teaching.

In a decision that confirms its right to proactively reach out to victims of sexual abuse by priests, the Catholic Diocese of Bathurst, New Brunswick, has been awarded $3.4 million in a dispute with its insurance company.

Pope Francis will not visit Canada to personally apologize for the suffering endured by indigenous Canadians at residential schools, said the president of the Canadian bishops' conference.

Eighty-seven religious leaders, including Toronto Cardinal Thomas Collins, have united to call on the Canadian government to strike down a new policy that requires organizations seeking summer jobs grants to confirm support for the pro-abortion and gender policies of the Liberal Party.