With over $17.5 million raised in the two-and-a-half years since the Indigenous Reconciliation Fund (IRF) became a registered charity in March 2022, the 73 Canadian Catholic dioceses are poised to exceed the five-year $30-million commitment Canada's Catholic bishops made to the nation's Indigenous peoples.

But more importantly, said Bishop William McGrattan, the money raised so far is already making a difference in local communities.

McGrattan, president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), touted the progress made during the closing press conference for the bishops' annual Plenary Assembly on Sept. 27.

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“We’re ahead of schedule in terms of the pledged $30 million, and more importantly we’re starting to see these projects affect local communities all across Canada,” said McGrattan, who shepherds the Diocese of Calgary. “Many of the bishops were very much encouraged with what has taken place since the Holy Father’s visit to Canada (in 2022).”

As of Sept. 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, the IRF has stimulated 194 initiatives.

A proposed project must help the IRF gain headway with at least one of its four stated mission pillars to merit grant consideration. The four foundational vocations are to promote healing and reconciliation for communities and families, kindle culture and language revitalization, champion education and community building and foster dialogues for promoting Indigenous spirituality and culture.

“I am amazed with the projects that they’re (proposing) to do in their community,” said Rosella Kinoshameg, an Odawa/Ojibway elder who serves as chairperson of the IDF board of directors. “A lot of them have to do with language. We have lost languages or (have) very few speakers left in the different languages.”

Thanks to IRF funding, the Metepenagiag Mi’kmaq Nation, settled near the Miramichi River in New Brunswick, offered language classes to reverse the steady decline of Mi’kmaq language speakers. The reconciliation fund specifically financed teacher honorariums, facility rentals and classroom supplies.

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Other standout IRF-backed projects include Native Child and Family Services of Toronto's On the Land Culture Camps, bolstering food security for the First Nation community of Houpsitas in B.C., and installing a new community teepee for Our Lady of Seven Sorrows Church in Maskwacis, Alta.

Kinoshameg, who lives in the Wiikwemkoong Unceded Reserve on Manitoulin Island, Ont., suggested that an effective avenue to ensure continued fundraising momentum is for prospective donors to “go on the (IRF) website and read about the projects that have been funded.”

The Catholic Register spoke to Kinoshameg before she travelled overseas to witness the Second Session of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. She said she appreciated the parallels between the synodal process and the pledge for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians to harmoniously journey forward.

“It is about listening to the people and determining the pathway we’re going to be following in working together,”

Kinoshameg said she also appreciated that Pope Francis’ remarks at those meetings echoed sentiments he imparted during his penitential pilgrimage to Canada from July 24-29, 2022.

“It’s about how we are going to make Jesus more known to the people and maybe how we can do evangelization in a new way,” said Kinoshameg.

In the over two years since the Pope’s visit, Kinoshameg has returned to his speeches from those six days in 2022 on multiple occasions. She recalled his invitation to walk, pray and do things together.

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“That’s fantastic,” said Kinoshameg. “I think that's the only way we'll come to reconciliation and healing. It just can't be one-sided.”

Visit https://irfund.ca/en/welcome/ to learn more about the projects approved to date.