“The deep hope is that this group, having shared a common learning experience will be a support and resource to one another in their ministry with Indigenous peoples and be better equipped to build relationships among Indigenous people and the Church. ”
This project is an initiative of Rev. Dr. Mark A. Hagemoen, Bishop of Saskatoon, and Dr. Adrienne Castellon, independent researcher. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon, St. Thomas More College and Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools offer Indigenous Pastoral & Lay Leader Ministry Education as a continuing education program for Catholic Indigenous and non-Indigenous clergy and lay ministers: https://rcdos.ca/ministries-services/indigenous-ministry-2/indigenous-ministry-education/ The underlying vision of change of this program is to change hearts and attitudes while engendering more commitment and engagement in truth and reconciliation ministerial efforts. While the church participated in Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission which toured the country from 2008-2015 and made 94 ‘Calls to Action’, there are many outstanding issues.
The proposed grant application is to fund an impact study to evaluate the effectiveness of this program and determine what is working, inform decisions about whether or not to scale up to other dioceses in Canada and identify what aspects of the program need revision or enhancement.