Walking Together in Hope: A Message for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Dear Brothers, Oblate Associates and Friends,

On this National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, we pause once again to remember, to listen, and to renew our commitment to the continuing journey of reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples.

Today we remember the Survivors of residential schools, their families and communities, and the children who never returned home. Their stories are part of the history of this country and also part of our history as Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. We cannot change that history, but we can learn from it and allow it to shape the relationships we build today.

This year gives us another important reason to reflect. Thirty years ago, in 1996, the Final Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) was released. It was the result of an enormous effort to listen, to understand, and to propose a new relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada.

Oblates participated in that conversation. Douglas Crosby, OMI, Marc Lortie, OMI, and Achiel Peelman, OMI, made a presentation to the Royal Commission on behalf of the Oblate Conference of Canada. Among the matters they addressed were Indigenous self-government and the importance of Indigenous participation in decisions concerning Indigenous lands.

The Aboriginal Rights Coalition, of which Oblates were a part, also responded to RCAP by helping Canadians learn about its findings. Working with Indigenous Elders and educators, the Coalition developed what became the Blanket Exercise. Thirty years later, the KAIROS Blanket Exercise continues under Indigenous leadership and has helped thousands of people learn about the history and experience of Indigenous Peoples in Canada.

These are small but meaningful reminders that change is possible.

Our own history is not simple. Oblates participated in the residential school system, and we continue to hear the painful stories of Survivors and communities affected by that experience. We receive those stories with humility.

Our history also includes many years of friendship, service and solidarity. Many Oblates shared the lives of Indigenous communities, learned their languages, advocated for their rights and remained with them through difficult times. Today, Oblates, Oblate Associates and partners in mission continue these relationships in different parts of the country. We are grateful especially for the Indigenous people who continue to welcome us, work with us and share this journey with us.

There is a line from 1996 that seems particularly meaningful today. As the Royal Commission prepared to release its report, Fr. Douglas Crosby, OMI, then General Secretary of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, spoke about the hope for a new relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. He concluded very simply:

“We have to work together.”

Thirty years later, we still do.

Reconciliation cannot be something we do for one another. It grows as we listen to one another, learn from one another and work together. It requires relationships in which Indigenous voices, experience and wisdom are respected and in which Indigenous Peoples participate fully in decisions concerning their communities and their future.

In this Jubilee year, as we mark 200 years since the approval of our Constitutions and Rules, this speaks to us in a particular way. We are being reminded again that mission is not simply about what I want to do, but about what we are called to discern and undertake together. We are learning to move from me to we.

Perhaps reconciliation asks something similar of all of us: to resist the temptation to decide the future for one another and instead to discover the way forward by walking it together.

On this September 30, let us remember the Survivors of residential schools and the children who never returned home. Let us hold their families and communities in our prayer. Let us also give thanks for the friendships that have endured, for the relationships that have been renewed, and for all those who continue patiently to build greater understanding, respect and trust.

Thirty years after RCAP, there is still much work before us. But there are also signs that change is possible, and therefore there is reason for hope.

Reconciliation is not only about how we remember the past. It is also about the future we are willing to build together.

May God give us the humility to listen, the courage to face the truth, and the generosity to continue walking together in hope.

Fr. Andrzej Stendzina, OMI
Provincial
OMI Lacombe Canada