Pope returns artifacts from Vatican museums to Canada after 100 years
16 November 04:19
Pope Leo XIV has donated 62 historical artifacts of the indigenous peoples of Canada to the Conference of Bishops of Canada. This was reported by the Vatican press service, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
The press release specifies that the artifacts were in the ethnological collections of museums on the territory of the Holy See. They came to the Vatican in 1925: Catholic missionaries sent them for two years before the exhibition.
Leo XIV noted that these gifts are “a concrete sign of dialogue, respect and brotherhood” and testify to “the history of the encounter between faith and indigenous culture.”
His predecessor, Pope Francis, visited the Canadian city of Edmonton in the summer of 2022. During the visit, he apologized for the role of the Catholic Church in the abuse of indigenous children in boarding schools. The Vatican called the trip a “penitential pilgrimage.”
