When Vatican officials were looking for someone in Canada to act as a liaison for program planning during the Pope’s visit later this month, they had specific criteria.
Ideally the person should have an indigenous heritage, have a connection to the residential school system and speak Italian.
This left them with a name: Cristino Bouvette.
The 36-year-old Roman Catholic priest from Calgary is Italian through his mother and raises and mestizos through his father. Her kokum, or grandmother, was a survivor of the residential school.
“I have these two worlds coming together,” Bouvette said in an interview while in Edmonton.
“This new role is something I think fits me perfectly. If by God’s providence you have prepared things for me to be a part of it in this way, I am honored to do so.”
Bouvette has been appointed national liturgical director since Pope Francis’ first visit to Canada. The theme of the trip is “Walking Together” and from July 24-29, the Pope plans to meet with indigenous groups and survivors of residential schools at the stops in and around Edmonton, Quebec and Iqaluit.
Bouvette outside Scared Heart Church in Edmonton. The church will be one of the places Pope Francis will visit on his trip to Alberta. (Jason Franson / The Canadian Press)
The position requires Bouvette to work with local organizers and the Vatican’s liturgy office to help ensure the ceremonies that take place during the visit reflect the land where they reside and the Catholic Church.
Bouvette approached earlier this year when talks began on Pope Francis’ visit to Canada.
“I knew right away that I didn’t want to do it,” he recalled. “It’s very overwhelming. I was sure it would be very complicated. I was just scared to do something wrong or make a mistake.”
Being an indigenous priest carries a level of pressure, he said. It is a role he gladly accepts but which fills him with fear when he thinks of fostering healing and reconciliation between his own people and the church that inflicted pain on them.
An estimated 150,000 indigenous children were forced to attend residential schools for a century, and the Roman Catholic Church ran about 60% of the schools.
“When I get the feeling that a lot of people rely on me to say or do the right thing at the right time, that’s the heaviest burden.”
The thoughts of his kokum came to mind, he said.
When Amelia Mae Bouvette was seven, she was forced to leave her family at Saddle Lake Cree Nation in central-east Alberta to attend Edmonton Church-run residential school. United.
Despite this, he maintained a deep connection with his Christian faith. He grew up as a member of the United Church and his relatives were ordained ministers.
Decades later, when the time came for Cristino Bouvette to tell her grandmother that she had decided to become a priest, she told him that she had known good nuns and priests in her life and that she hoped he would be one of them. .
He died in 2019, a month before his 100th birthday.
When Bouvette thinks what her kokum would say about her role with the Pope’s Canadian visit, it’s not words that come to mind.
“I can see his face and feel his hand on my hand,” he said. “She would be a refuge for me to know that no matter what happened and no matter what I did or how I did it, she would support me. So that brings a lot of comfort.”
The Pope is expected to extend an apology for the church’s role in residential schools, which he gave to indigenous delegates earlier this year at the Vatican.
Bouvette approached earlier this year when talks began on Pope Francis’ visit to Canada. (Jason Franson / The Canadian Press)
The last few months have been a whirlwind of meetings, Bouvette said.
He has contacted indigenous representatives from each area that the pontiff will visit to hear what they hope to see from the program. Vatican officials have also toured the planned locations.
“It’s surreal to be able to be, in Italian, explaining to some monsignors what the stain is or why praying in all four directions is important,” he said. “All these things are mixed into one.”
Details on what the ceremonies will be like are secret, but Bouvette said it has been important to develop a program in which Pope Francis can participate meaningfully while honoring indigenous traditions and customs.
“I hope people looking for something like this get what they need and that if there are people who didn’t think they needed this or actively don’t want it, at least it doesn’t cause them. Any disruption or any harm.”