Dear Friends and Supporters of the Rebuilding Our Church Campaign,
Advent blessings to you! Here is the latest update from our campaign and from our archdiocese. If you missed previous updates and would like to catch up, they can be found here: https://rebuildingourchurch.ca/blog/2021/02/27/campaign-news-and-updates/
Since our church and archdiocese are focusing on efforts to rebuild right relations with Indigenous Peoples, and in particular Residential School Survivors, our Campaign meetings with new donors continue to be on hold for the time being.
Our team has remained active, however. We have been connecting with past Campaign donors to offer the opportunity to redirect (or top up) a portion of their gift to the archdiocese’s TRC Healing Response. So far, 10 donors have chosen to redirect and 62 donors have chosen to top up. This is in addition to over 600 non-Campaign donors to the TRC Healing Response so far. We are full of gratitude for the generosity of our Catholic community!
As you may have seen in your parish bulletin and in the pew cards at Mass, this coming Sunday, December 12, is the National Day of Prayer in Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples, and also the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. There will be a Special Collection that day for the TRC Healing Response, at Masses across the archdiocese, so that all interested parishioners have the chance to participate. It is also possible to take part online via the archdiocese’s giving page: https://archregina.sk.ca/giving
Bishop Don and his team have been working hard on preparations for the Indigenous Delegation to Rome. Unfortunately, with the rise of the new Omicron variant of Covid, the Delegation has been postponed until as soon as possible in 2022. You can read the statement here: https://archregina.sk.ca/news/2021/12/07/canadian-bishops-assembly-first-nations-m%C3%A9tis-national-council-and-inuit-tapiriit
Despite the postponement, this can still be a fruitful time to learn about walking together toward healing and reconciliation, and the hopes for the Delegation remain bright.
-Find Bishop Don’s Advent reflection videos here: https://www.cccb.ca/evangelization-catechesis-catholic-education/video-resources/journey-through-advent/
-Find an interview and CTV news report about the aspirations for the Delegation here: https://regina.ctvnews.ca/regina-archdiocese-representatives-visiting-pope-francis-hoping-for-listening-understanding-1.5691052
As we prepare to celebrate the coming of Jesus into our world, we trust all these things to the hands of God and look to the Holy Spirit’s guidance. We wish you and your families health, hope and a blessed Christmas.
With gratitude,
Your Campaign team
Archbishop Don Bolen, Michelle Sanche, John Dipple, Mo Bundon, Samy McCarthy, Ron Kruzeniski, Garth Herbert, George Kress and Lisa Smith
