NATIONAL TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION DAY
Sept. 30, 2025
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
As we mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30, I invite all members of our Archdiocesan community to pause and reflect on the legacy of residential schools, the painful history endured by Indigenous Peoples, and the role that the Catholic Church played in that story.
This day is not only a civic observance. It honours the children who never returned home and survivors of residential schools, as well as their families and communities. It also a profound opportunity for us, as people of faith, to live out the Gospel call to justice, healing, and reconciliation. In this spirit, I encourage you to engage in three meaningful actions:
Pray
Let us lift up our hearts to God in prayer for all Indigenous Peoples, especially the survivors of residential schools and their families. Pray for healing of wounds that continue to affect communities across our nation. Pray also for the Church—that we may continue to walk humbly on the journey of reconciliation, guided by truth, compassion, and accountability.
Consider gathering with your parish community or in your home to offer prayers of lament, hope, and unity. Resources for prayer and reflection are available through the Archdiocese and through national organizations such as the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and Indigenous Catholic ministries.
Learn
Reconciliation requires understanding. I invite you to take time today—and throughout the year—to learn more about the history and ongoing impacts of colonialism, the residential school system, and the experiences of Indigenous Peoples in Canada.
Explore the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action, especially those addressed to the Church. Read testimonies of survivors. Listen to Indigenous voices. As disciples of Christ, we are called not to turn away from difficult truths, but to confront them with humility and love.
Support Local Events
Across our communities, various events—led by Sacred Heart Church of the First Peoples, the national Indigenous parish in the Archdiocese, as well as Lac Ste. Anne parish and Our Lady of Seven Sorrows parish in Maskwacis — are taking place today and throughout the week.
I encourage you and your families to attend a local event, walk in solidarity, and be present as a witness to our shared commitment to healing and reconciliation. Listening with an open heart can be powerful expressions of our Catholic faith in action.
As the Holy Father, Pope Francis, said at Sacred Heart Church of the First Peoples, on his penitential journey to Canada in 2022:
“If we truly want to be reconciled with one another and with ourselves, to be reconciled with the past, with wrongs endured and memories wounded, with traumatic experiences that no human consolation can ever heal, our eyes must be lifted to the crucified Jesus; peace must be attained at the altar of his cross. For it is precisely on the tree of the cross that sorrow is transformed into love, death into life, disappointment into hope, abandonment into fellowship, distance into unity.”
(Apostolic Journey of His Holiness Pope Francis to Canada, Meeting with Indigenous Peoples and Members of the Parish Community of Sacred Heart, July 25, 2022)
As we journey together on the path of truth and reconciliation, let us remember that this is not a one-day commitment, but a lifelong responsibility rooted in the dignity of every human person and the call of the Gospel.
May we be led by the Spirit of Christ in all we do, and may our actions bring us closer to justice, peace, and genuine healing.
God Bless,
Rev. Paul Kavanagh
Archdiocesan Administrator
The Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton
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