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Sandrine Rastello

Sandrine Rastello is a contributor to Global Sisters Report, based in Montreal. An award-winning journalist and conference moderator, she reported from three continents during a two-decade career at Bloomberg News. She has written stories about everything from global macroeconomics to U.S. elections, gone down France’s last coal mine and tracked some of Canada’s biggest companies. She is also an accomplished actress who regularly performs with her troupe.

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Sr. Norma McDonald, left, participates in a walk during the Truth and Reconciliation Committee in Vancouver 2013 with Nora Martin (Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation), Janelle Delorme (a réconciliACTION participant 2013) and Margaret Eaton (Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation). (Courtesy of Sr. Norma McDonald)

For Catholic sisters in Canada, reconciliation is a mosaic of action

Sisters across Canada work to rebuild a relationship with Canada's Indigenous peoples, acknowledging the role the Catholic Church played in the government's plans to forcibly assimilate children into the dominant culture.

A group of people participate in a March Advancing Reconciliation workshop in Winnipeg, Manitoba, hosted by Returning to Spirit, a nonprofit organization. (Courtesy of Returning to Spirit)

Taking part in reconciliation: Inside the process of life-changing workshops

The Catholic Church ran most of Canada's residential schools. For many Indigenous students forced to attend, men and women religious are a reminder of past abuse. An organization helps religious and Indigenous communities overcome that rift.

A child's red dress hangs on a stake near the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in Kamloops, British Columbia June 5, 2021. For years Indigenous people in Canada have wanted an apology from the pope for the church's role in abuse at Catholic-run residential schools. (CNS/Reuters/Jennifer Gauthier)

A year after Pope Francis' Canada trip, sisters walk long road to reconciliation amid boarding schools' bitter legacy

Pope Francis came to Canada in 2022 to apologize to Indigenous people for abusive residential schools. In the wake of his visit, Global Sisters Report looked into ongoing reconciliation efforts within religious communities.