The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops announced Saturday that 62 Indigenous artifacts from the Vatican Museums were returned as a gift from Pope Leo XIV.
The Canadian 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.
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.”
The artifacts will now be transferred to the National 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 The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 15, 2025.
The Canadian Press
