Diocesan Council for Truth and Reconciliation (DCTR) – February, 2024.

As a result of participation in the local TRC process in June 2012, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon has created the Diocesan Council of Truth and Reconciliation (DCTR) — a local dialogue and governing body in the diocese, equivalent to the Diocesan Priests’ Council and the Diocesan Pastoral Council.

Mission Statement for Diocesan Council of Truth and Reconciliation

The Diocesan Council of Truth and Reconciliation is a sharing and consultative circle of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people providing guidance to the diocese of Saskatoon. It arises out of the promise made at the Saskatchewan Truth and Reconciliation Commission event held in Saskatoon during the summer of 2012. The mandate of the Diocesan Council of Truth and Reconciliation (DCTR) is:

“…to provide a forum for listening and sharing, through stories and prayer, to collaborate with the diocese toward building and strengthening relationships, and to support healing from the Indian Residential School experience. Our goal is to help the diocese of Saskatoon to be aware of the many current issues which hinder reconciliation between our cultures and to discern a way forward through education and action, into right relationship in the light of the Gospel.”

Initiatives discussed, initiated and supported by the DCTR have included:

  • “Voices of Our Sisters: Standing Together in Hope” An ecumenical response to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (2015)
  • Treaty Six Medal installation at the Cathedral of the Holy Family, as well as at St. Anne’s Parish in Saskatoon
  • Treaty Elder Series presentations in a number of parishes, including St. Francis Xavier, Sts-Martyrs-Canadiens, and St. Joseph in Saskatoon and Sacred Heart in Davidson (2016-2018)
  • Presentations at meetings of the Diocesan Pastoral Council, at  Diocesan Congress gatherings  in various locations across the diocese, and at an annual diocesan Administration Day (2015-2018)
  • Work with a West-Central Reconciliation Committee established after the shooting death of a young Indigenous man on a local farm

 

The Diocesan Council for Truth and Reconciliation in 2018.