And so I pray, and so I pray,
and so I pray to you, Creator God―
for the delegates who travelled to speak to Pope Francis,
to share, again, the truth of their lives,
as survivors of Canada’s residential institutions,
to share, again, the truth of the lives,
of the children who were taken from family and community,
and who never came home;
to share the truth of what Canada and Church,
through policy and doctrine, have done
to Indigenous peoples of this land,
since the colonizers came.
And so I pray, God,
as I heard our brother, Francis, as he asked for forgiveness;
that the Church will follow its words of sorrow,
with actions of repentance, of reparation,
of working for right relationship,
of listening to the calls of Indigenous peoples and communities,
as spoken through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
And so I pray God,
as the delegates return home,
may all that they have done,
all that they have shared,
change your world, for the better.
In Christ’s name, I ask these things.
Amen.
―Moderator Richard Bott