Assembly of First Nations
National Chief Phil Fontaine has been chosen to make this year's special address at the Plenary Assembly of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, set to take place in Cornwall next week.
Fontaine will address approximately 90 bishops during his 30- minute speech. He's likely to highlight the public apology for the controversial residential school system delivered by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in June of this year.
"I believe the focus of the speech will be on the apology, and in particular the fact that the Catholic Church hasn't apologized yet, and that there needs to be an apology from the Pope," said AFN Director of Communications Joan McEwen, who spoke for Fontaine while he attended a First Nations community planning conference in Charlottetown, PEI, yesterday.
"On top of that I think there will be some forward thinking. We've had the apology, but now what? We need to look at steps for reconciliation, and what that means," said McEwen.
McEwen added this is the first time Fontaine has spoken at the
CCCB, but it is not his first address to members of the Catholic clergy, some of whom attended the AFN's General Assembly Meeting, held in Quebec City in July, and that he will most like be reinforcing some of the issues that surfaced there.
CCCB communications advisor Gerald Baril said it was Fontaine who approached conference organizers to arrange the address, which will also be open to the media.
"Though he has met with members of the Catholic church before, he has never met with all of the bishops at once, and I believe he wanted to opportunity to do that," said Baril.
He added that at least six of the bishops who will be in attendance will go on to a similar conference to be held at the Vatican next month.
"He says he has a message for these men, and though we're not entirely sure what that message is yet, we are more than willing to hear what he has to say," said Baril.
Fontaine will also join the bishops for lunch, and will then participate in a media briefing with Archbishop of Winnipeg and CCCB President Reverend V. James Weisgerber.
Also set to address conferencegoers is Bishop Paul-Andre Durocher with the Alexandria- Cornwall Diocese, and Apostolic Nuncio Luigi Ventura, the Pope's representation in Canada.