Church Statements
A Time for Remembering
1992: A Time for Remembering, Reconciling, and Recommitting Ourselves as a People Statement of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops on Native Americans November (1991)
The fifth centenary of the coming of Europeans to this land is both a challenge and an opportunity, a time for looking back at where we have been and looking ahead to where we should be as a people and a nation. No specific aspect of this observance challenges us more than the situation of Native Americans in our midst—their past treatment, their current condition, and their future aspirations.
As we prepare for the historic year of 1992, with both its opportunity for dialogue and its significant controversy, the Catholic community is blessed, enriched, and profoundly challenged by the faith of Native Americans in our midst. We ask the Catholic community to join us in seeking new understanding and awareness of their situation and in committing our Church to new advocacy and action with our Native American brothers and sisters on issues of social justice and pastoral life which touch their lives.