Bishop Joseph Dabrowski, the Catholic co-chair of the Dialogue, is pictured here with a Bible translated into Mohawk, which he gave to Pope Leo XIV in June.
Following are excepts from a report by Patricia Paddey which has recently been posted on the websites of both the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) and the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC).
Started in 2011, Canada’s Roman Catholic–Evangelical Dialogue has just completed one of its longest joint explorations, concluding two-and-a-half years of biannual meetings on the issues of Indigenous reconciliation and the residential schools.
“Our Evangelical colleagues wanted to bring this topic to the Dialogue,” says Most Reverend Joseph Dabrowski, Bishop of the Diocese of Charlottetown, and the most recent Catholic co-chair of the Dialogue.
He says he sees beauty in that reality, “because the heart of both Catholic and Evangelical faiths is the Gospel message of reconciliation.”
“We are certainly committed to right relationships,” agrees Dr. Glenn Smith, director of the practical theology program at the Presbyterian College in Montreal, and Evangelical co-chair of the Dialogue. He explains that the idea for the theme was birthed, amid the historical moment when the discovery of unmarked graves – on the grounds of what were once residential schools – was hitting the headlines.
“We read the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada on the residential schools and discussed it,” Smith explains. “The unmarked graves just prompted us. . . . We also knew that the Pope was coming to Canada, which was going to be an important time for our Catholic brothers and sisters.”
Smith acknowledges that while most schools were overseen by the Catholic Church, “It’s important for all Christians to face up to this.” The need for reconciliation is a Christian problem he explains, because it is rooted in what was a Christian strategy, therefore we all have a stake in it.
‘The great myth’
Glenn Smith of the Presbyterian College in Montreal is the Evangelical co-chair of the Dialogue.
“Here’s the great myth,” Smith says. “Evangelicals are diffident on this subject because they hold the position, ‘Well, we didn’t have any schools so it’s not really our problem.’”
“To think that the schools that were run by the Anglicans, the United Church and the Presbyterians were run by people who did not have an Evangelical faith and practice is a great historical mistake.
“These people were motivated by mission. It was a missionary strategy. And it was a terrible missionary strategy, to take children out of their families . . . the antithesis of mission as we understand it today. So, we cannot be diffident on the subject.”
Bishop Dabrowski says there is broad benefit to understanding our shared history. “A united Christian voice on truth and reconciliation carries greater moral and social weight,” he explains.
“Indigenous communities often see Christianity as a whole, rather than distinguishing between denominations. So, presenting a unified front demonstrates this collective willingness to acknowledge past harms and work together for meaningful change.” . . .
Truly listening to others
Evangelical Dialogue member Andrew Dyck is an assistant professor at Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg. He says hearing the stories of particular Indigenous people and of their particular encounters with the church and the Gospel affected him deeply.
“If I don’t hear stories, it’s easy to make sweeping generalizations about Indigenous people and groups,” he explains. “But when I hear stories, every story is unique and has a different angle to it. So, for me, as far as key learning, it’s about needing to first listen to actual stories about what people have experienced, encountered and wrestled with, and taking those stories seriously.”
“When the Church of Christ has done harm, that affects all of us. So, we all have something to do with working towards healing and reconciliation and restoring the reputation of Christ and the Church.”
Brett Salkeld is archdiocesan theologian for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Regina and the longest serving member of the Dialogue, having been there from the beginning. He describes the practice of hearing one another and being able “to articulate the other person’s position or experience in a way that they themselves would recognize it” as a key to building trust, and a first step towards reconciliation. “You can’t get anywhere until people feel heard.”
He describes the engagement with local Indigenous people and communities across the country as being among the Dialogue’s greatest successes. “When I look back, the things in my memory are those people. I can picture their faces and remember the feeling in the room as they were speaking.”
He cites other successes. “In public perception the residential schools are much more a Catholic problem,” he says. “It was good for Catholics to see what it looks like in the Evangelical world, that the fallout from colonialism is not selective. Any representative of Christianity has to deal with the fallout from that. It was also good for Evangelicals to realize it’s part of their heritage. That was important.” . . .
The full report by Patricia Paddey is available on the CCCB site and on the Faith Today (EFC) site.