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A\u00a0century-old Inuvialuit kayak once used for beluga and whale hunts, and\u00a061 other cultural objects\u00a0from\u00a0First Nations, M\u00e9tis and Inuit\u00a0communities have long been held in Vatican Museums\u00a0vaults. <\/p>\n
But the cultural items will be returned\u00a0to Canada on Dec. 6 after Pope Leo XIV gifted them to the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) on Saturday, said a joint statement by the Vatican and the conference.<\/p>\n
The announcement was made following a meeting at the Holy See between the Pope and a CCCB delegation, including its president, Bishop Pierre Goudreault,\u00a0Rev. Richard Smith, archbishop of Vancouver, and Rev. Jean V\u00e9zina, general secretary.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the conclusion of the journey initiated by Pope Francis that included his apostolic journey to Canada in 2022, various audiences with Indigenous communities and the publication of the Declaration on the Doctrine of Discovery in 2023, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV desires that this gift represent a concrete sign of dialogue, respect and fraternity,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n
It also said the Pope has given the objects to the CCCB, who \u201care committed to ensuring that these artifacts are properly safeguarded, respected and preserved.\u201d<\/p>\n
“The CCCB will proceed, as soon as possible, to transfer these artifacts to the National Indigenous Organizations (NIOs). The NIOs will then ensure that the artifacts are reunited with their communities of origin,” the Canadian bishops said.<\/p>\n
The negotiations were led by Indigenous groups and had been ongoing for two years. The expense of the negotiations and the return of the cultural objects to date have been prepaid by Indigenous groups. <\/p>\n
Joyce Napier is Canadian ambassador to the Holy See who was part of the Canadian government effort to help repatriate the cultural items.<\/p>\n
Calling the return of the items a \u201chistoric day,\u201d Napier added, \u201cThere have been many conversations with the Vatican and CCCB, and it was clear the Vatican wished to return the objects,\u201d with Pope Francis\u2019s illness and death temporarily slowing the negotiations, she added.<\/p>\n
Napier said the items, now in vaults inside the Vatican Museums, will be packaged in crates and flown to Montreal via Frankfurt on an Air Canada flight set to arrive on Dec. 6. \u00a0<\/p>\n
From there, they will be shipped to the\u00a0Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Que., where experts\u00a0will assess their condition, confirm their origins and work with Indigenous representatives to decide where they\u00a0should ultimately end up.<\/p>\n
![\"Pope](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1763230508_589_default.jpg\")
Pope Leo delivers a speech at the Pontical Lateran University in Rome on Friday. The next day, the Pope gifted the Indigenous cultural objects from Canada to a delegation of Catholic bishops.
\n (Alessandra Tarantino\/The Associated Press)<\/p>\n
After years of calls for repatriation, the move is being seen as a significant step for Indigenous communities\u00a0where for decades children were taken from their families and\u00a0forced to attend Catholic Church-run residential schools,\u00a0where abuse was rampant.<\/p>\n
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand also welcomed the move.<\/p>\n
“This is an important step that honors the diverse cultural heritage of Indigenous peoples and supports ongoing efforts toward truth, justice, and reconciliation,” Anand wrote on X, formerly Twitter.<\/p>\n
The return of the items is structured as a church-to-church\u00a0\u201cgift,\u201d which Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said is the how the Vatican gives back cultural objects,\u00a0allowing\u00a0it\u00a0to avoid setting a precedent of returning items directly to nations or communities.<\/p>\n
In 2023, a year after\u00a0Pope Francis\u2019s \u201cpenitential\u201d trip to\u00a0Canada\u00a0when he apologized\u00a0\u00a0for\u00a0some members of the\u00a0Catholic Church\u2019s role in residential schools,\u00a0Francis\u00a0acknowledged the importance of restitution of the items,\u00a0many considered sacred by some First Nations<\/a>.\u00a0During meetings in Italy, Canada’s prime minister at the time, Justin Trudeau,\u00a0and\u00a0later\u00a0Foreign Minister M\u00e9lanie Joly pressed the\u00a0Pope and the Vatican secretary of state\u00a0to\u00a0return the cultural objects.<\/p>\n The kayak\u00a0was among 100,000 objects\u00a0originally sent to Rome in 1925 for a world exhibition organized by Pope Pius XI, who invited Catholic missionaries to ship\u00a0\u201cexamples of Indigenous life\u201d\u00a0from the regions where\u00a0the men worked.\u00a0Other notable items include a\u00a0wampum belt from\u00a0Kanesatake, Que., that was \u201cdonated\u201d to Pope Gregory XVI in 1831,\u00a0embroidered leather gloves of\u00a0Cree\u00a0origin and a Gwich\u2019in\u00a0baby belt.<\/p>\n Many of the objects came from\u00a0Indigenous communities during a period of forced conversion, cultural suppression and the residential school system in Canada, and most remained\u00a0inside Vatican Museums storage rooms.<\/p>\n Indigenous leaders stress\u00a0that ceremonies must take<\/a>\u00a0place before the items make the journey home.<\/p>\n![\"Indigenous](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1763230508_695_default.jpg\")
Thread-embroidered gloves, attributed to the Cree from Canada’s central sub-Arctic, on display at the Vatican Museums along with other Indigenous items. (Submitted)<\/p>\n