Overview
- Pope Leo XIV handed over 62 items from the Vatican Museums’ Anima Mundi collection to the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops as a gesture described as “a concrete sign of dialogue, respect and fraternity.”
- The bishops say they will transfer the collection to National Indigenous Organizations, which will coordinate reunification with communities of origin across Canada.
- Logistics call for the shipment to arrive in Montreal on Dec. 6 before conservation, cataloguing and identification work in Gatineau by the Canadian Museum of History.
- The group includes a century-old Inuvialuit kayak, wampum belts, masks and war clubs, most originally gathered by missionaries for the 1925 Vatican Missionary Exhibition.
- Indigenous leaders and researchers question whether the objects were ever freely given and criticize the church-to-church model, while Canadian officials, including Foreign Minister Anita Anand, welcomed the step toward reconciliation.