Image provided by Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc

By Dylana Kneeshaw

SACRED COVENANT SIGNING

Pope Francis endorses new agreement between Tk’emlúps, Kamloops and Vancouver dioceses

Apr 1, 2024 | 2:40 PM

TK’EMLÚPS TE SECWÉPEMC — Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc (TteS) took a historical step in its relationship with the Catholic church over the weekend.

Last week (Mar. 28), the band announced it would be signing a Sacred Covenant with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kamloops on Easter Sunday (Mar. 31).

The agreement was meant to establish what Tk’emlúps outlines as ‘practical commitments’. Namely, the church and TteS mutually agree to work together in memorializing the children who attended residential schools, facilitating access to historical records and archives, and working to provide information as Tk’emlúps undertakes its investigation into children who were unaccounted for, or missing, and injustices that took place at the Kamloops Indian Residential School.

The agreement also garnered papal approval, with Vancouver’s Archbishop J. Michael Miller presenting a message from Pope Francis at the signing event. The message also noting that the covenant signed with the two dioceses and Tk’emlúps fulfills the Pope’s past call for Canada’s Roman Catholic Churches to find concrete ways to reconcile with Indigenous peoples.

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In a news release following the signing event, TteS states that the covenant also “clarifies the ‘Doctrine of Discovery’ by affirming the dignity and rights of First Nations peoples, repudiating past injustices.”

While Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc Kukpi7 Rosanne Casimir was unable to attend in person while recovering from a broken leg, she made an appearance at the event over video and referred to the signing as a ‘testament of allyship.’