Bridgefolk is a movement of sacramentally-minded Mennonites and peace-minded Roman Catholics who come together to celebrate each other's traditions, explore each other's practices, and honor each other's contribution to the mission of Christ's Church.
This year Mennonites are marking 500 years since the birth of the Anabaptist movement in January 1525 in Zurich. Within two years, some of those who had been “re-baptized” were martyred. We know the period that followed as a time of persecution and martyrdom, in which Anabaptists were killed by both Reformers and Catholics.
Thankfully, relations grew less violent, but even 50 years ago, recognizing each other as Christians was often a challenge. Now, there is much more understanding and cooperation between their descendants.
A good example is in Winnipeg’s North End, where a small Mennonite congregation is renting space from the St. Kateri Tekakwitha Indigenous Church, (or Aboriginal Catholic parish), through a history that involves cooperation with a Lutheran church as well.
Pope Francis makes historic apology to Indigenous of Canada for church abuses
by Nicole Winfield
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis on Friday made a historic apology to Indigenous Peoples for the “deplorable” abuses they suffered in Canada’s Catholic-run residential schools and said he hoped to visit Canada in late July to deliver the apology in person to survivors of the church’s misguided missionary zeal.
Francis begged forgiveness during an audience with dozens of members of the Metis, Inuit and First Nations communities who came to Rome seeking a papal apology and a commitment for the Catholic Church to repair the damage. The first pope from the Americas said he hoped to visit Canada around the Feast of St. Anna, which falls on July 26 and is dedicated to Christ’s grandmother.
More than 150,000 native children in Canada were forced to attend state-funded Christian schools from the 19th century until the 1970s in an effort to isolate them from the influence of their homes and culture. The aim was to Christianize and assimilate them into mainstream society, which previous Canadian governments considered superior. … To continue reading, click here.
But is it enough? Here are representative responses:
Murray Sinclair – Ojibwe lawyer, judge, and senator from Manitoba who chaired Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation commission – calls Francis’s expression of contrition “a major step” but argues that the Catholic Church must go on to address deniers.
Jeremy Bergen – Mennonite theologian who studies church apologies for historical wrongs – elaborates on needed next steps and insists that the Catholic Church must not only apologizes for the actions of sinful Catholics but take responsibility for harms it has inflicted as an institution.
Associated Press reporter Peter Smith anticipates that US churches to will now face their own reckoning concerning boarding schools.
