Pope Leo XIV has returned 62 Indigenous artifacts held for more than 100 years by the Vatican to Canadian Catholic leaders for redistribution to Indigenous communities.
Pope Leo XIV on Saturday returned 62 Indigenous artifacts that had been held by the Vatican for more than a century, according to a report from UPI. The handover took place during a meeting with leaders of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) in the Vatican, fulfilling a commitment made by Pope Francis before his death in April.
The original inhabitants of Canada — First Nations, Inuit, and Métis — number 1.8 million people, or 5% of the country’s population. In a joint statement, the CCCB and Vatican said they are “committed to ensuring that these artifacts are properly safeguarded, respected and preserved.”
After packaging in early December, the items will be sent to the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Quebec, for examination and cataloging before being transferred to National Indigenous Organizations, who “will then ensure that the artifacts are reunited with their communities of origin,” the CCCB noted.
Bishop Pierre Goudreault, CCCB president, said, “The Holy Father’s gift is a tangible sign of his desire to help Canada’s Bishops walk alongside Indigenous Peoples in a spirit of reconciliation during the Jubilee Year of Hope and beyond.”
The artifacts were originally displayed in the 1925 Vatican Missionary Exhibition and later incorporated into the Church’s ethnological museum collections. Indigenous communities have long sought their return.