Facing an imminent expansion of Canada’s assisted suicide law to make people suffering from mental illness eligible, the nation’s Catholic bishops are calling on health care providers to invest more in mental health resources to get people the help they need.
About six months after Canadian bishops wrote pastoral letters to indigenous communities outlining plans for reconciliation in the wake of revelations of historical abuse at Church-run institutions, the bishops have set in motion a reorganization of their Catholic Canadian Indigenous Council to “help move things along.”
Indigenous Catholics, along with U.S. and Canadian bishops, are welcoming the Vatican’s repudiation of a legal and political doctrine by which European colonial powers and North American governments historically seized lands from Indigenous peoples — while stressing there is more work to be done in healing Catholic-Indigenous relations.
With Pope Francis’ visit to Canada just days away, the country’s bishops have announced that a special fund to support healing and reconciliation efforts with indigenous communities has begun accepting proposals.
