Reconciliation in Wemotaci

On November 2nd, I, along with Bishop Martin Laliberté, P.M.E., of Trois-Rivières, participated in a purification and reconciliation ceremony in Wemotaci. As many will have seen on Radio-Canada, one of our confreres was convicted for sexual abuse committed against minors in the basement of the church there.

This caused deep wounds in individuals, families, and the Christian community. The ecclesial life had been reduced to its simplest form. A group of three dynamic women asked the deacon in charge to restart the church committee, but in order to do so, a ceremony of purification was necessary; everything in the room in the basement where the abuse occurred was to be burned in a purification fire.

The local bishop and I were invited to participate in this ceremony. Bishop Laliberté, myself, the deacon in charge and his wife, traveled to Wemotaci. Around 1:30 pm on November 2, a sacred fire was lit on the south side of the church, and an Indigenous spiritual leader began the ritual with the drum, the sacred pipe, and prayers to the Great Spirit. Then, the community chief, and elders spoke, as did Bishop Laliberté and I.

Afterward, those who wished were invited to enter the church and go downstairs to take everything from the room and throw it into the sacred fire. It was an intense moment for all present. Everyone was invited to go into the church, and the leaders spoke about the importance of prayer in the challenges of life. They emphasized the importance of prayer and attending church.

We then went to the cemetery where people who had attended residential schools, as well as relatives and victims of the abuse that took place in the Wemotaci church basement, are buried. We then celebrated the Eucharist in the church, and I was able to read a passage from the Epistle to the Romans, in the local language Atikamekw (the Atikamekw people, live in the upper Saint-Maurice River valley, about 300 km north of Montreal).

We concluded the event with a Mokocan, a festive meal in the church. Having spent nearly 24 years in Atikamekw communities, I consider myself privileged to have experienced this exceptional moment with my Indigenous friends.

By Jacques Laliberté, OMI – Provincial – Notre-Dame-du-Cap Province