Pope Francis dons a headdress that was gifted to him during a visit with Indigenous peoples at Maskwaci, the former Ermineskin Residential School, Monday, July 25, 2022, in Maskwacis, Alberta. The Vatican Museums officially reopened its African and American ethnographic collections Thursday, March 16, 2023, by showcasing intricately restored Rwandan raffia screens that were sent by Catholic missionaries to the Vatican for a 1925 exhibit. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
Pope Francis dons a headdress that was gifted to him during a visit with Indigenous peoples at Maskwaci, the former Ermineskin Residential School, Monday, July 25, 2022, in Maskwacis, Alberta. The Vatican Museums officially reopened its African and American ethnographic collections Thursday, March 16, 2023, by showcasing intricately restored Rwandan raffia screens that were sent by Catholic missionaries to the Vatican for a 1925 exhibit. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
EGThe ºÃÉ«tv Conference of Catholic Bishops announced Saturday that  62 Indigenous artifacts from the Vatican Museums were returned as a gift from Pope Leo XIV.
The ºÃÉ«tv Church said the gift was initiated by the late Pope Francis, who wanted to hand the artifacts to the CCCB in support of their ongoing journey with the Indigenous Peoples of Canada.Â
Pope Leo XIV honoured Pope Francis’s wish, and handed over the sacred and cultural artifacts to reflect mutual respect between the Church and Indigenous Peoples.
CCCB president Bishop Pierre Goudreault said in a statement that the Pope's gift is "a tangible sign of his desire to help Canada's Bishops walk alongside Indigenous Peoples in a spirit of reconciliation during the Jubilee Year of Hope and beyond."Â
The artifacts will now be transferred to the ºÃÉ«tv Indigenous Organizations and later reunited with their originating communities.
The items were sent to the Vatican 100 years ago for the 1925 World Missionary Exposition and had been in the care of the Vatican Museums’ ethnological collection.
This report by ºÃÉ«tvwas first published Nov. 15, 2025.
The ºÃÉ«tv Press. All rights reserved.
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