Inaugural ICRF Symposium in Washington, DC - December 2024

The Indigenous Catholic Research Fellowship held its first in-person symposium on December 7-9, in Washington at The Catholic University of America and the St. John Paul II National Shrine. This event was co-sponsored by the McLean Center for the Study of Culture and Values, the Knights of Columbus, through their Native Solidarity Initiative, and the Black and Indian Mission Office (whose Executive Director, Fr. Henry Sands, is a co-founding member and chaplain of the ICRF).

Many of us were meeting here for the first time in person so this was particularly special for the ICRF. The spirit of collaboration and dialogue was present from the very beginning. The symposium began Saturday afternoon with a welcoming session at the McLean Center followed by adoration, meditation, and mass at Maloney Hall's St. Michael the Archangel Chapel. The evening concluded with dinner at the Brooklyn Pint along with our first session of the weekend, a roundtable discussion on the vision and mission of the ICRF. We touched on various topics including truth and reconciliation, theological and cultural dialogue, and support for rigorous scholarship.

After morning prayer on Sunday, we continued our roundtable sessions throughout the day at the McLean Center, discussing topics such as Catholic Social Teaching, Indigenous Peoples, and the Common Good; the need and vision of an Emerging Scholars/Leaders Program; members' current projects and initiatives; and possibilities for collaboration. As a treat we had the opportunity to explore the various chapels at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception during lunch.

After mid-afternoon break, we heard from four speakers on our public panel entitled Indigenous Peoples, The Church, Interculturality & Interreligious Dialogue (a recording of this event is available on the ICRF's Youtube channel here). This panel was also co-sponsored by The Catholic University of America's Department of Anthropology. Guests joined online and in person. We then held a public mass at St. Michael's Chapel, celebrated by Fr. Sands, incorporating Indigenous hymns and prayers throughout. This was by far the busiest day but overall the most rewarding; having engaged in meaningful and constructive discussions while having plenty of time for introspection and meditation.

We held our final day of sessions on Monday at the Saint John Paul II National Shrine. After morning adoration, we explored major themes for an Indigenous Catholic Virtual Annotated Bibliography Project as well as Programming and Research Priorities for advancing our mission into the future. We concluded the symposium with a special mass at the JPII Shrine. After mass we had lunch and fellowship at the Shrine and said our goodbyes to each other as the symposium reached its end. As we all slowly went our separate ways from our accommodations at the Stuart Center, we had time to reflect on the success of the symposium and the incredible collaborative work that remains on the horizon. This is only the beginning of something truly transformative and I'm excited to see what comes next.