The TRC takes steps forward together with archbishop

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada plan a Mass followed by a 2 km walk on Sunday September 22 at 8am.

An aboriginal girl at an event in 2008 in Ottawa promoting the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The goal of the commission is to support those who have suffered through residential schools. CNS photo / Art Babych.

Socks are being pulled up and laces being tied in preparation for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) Mass and walk with Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB. The walk will begin after Mass at Holy Rosary Cathedral on Sunday Sept. 22 at 8 a.m. It will stretch from its starting line, Queen Elizabeth Theatre, along the streets of downtown to Science World, marking the end of a week-long event.

The walk will be "a great wind up to the TRC, not the end of the process, but the beginning of a new one" says Rennie Nahanee, First Nations Ministry coordinator for the Archdiocese of Vancouver.

Starting September 18, The Archdiocese of Vancouver is hosting the TRC's national event for the reconciliation after the tragedies associated with residential schools. Beginning in 1870, native children were forced out of their homes and sent to boarding schools that were being funded by the government and run by churches.

The Mass and walk are the conclusion to a week of cultural celebration for the TRC and all those affected by residential schools, with all participants of the Mass invited to join the archbishop for the walk on Sunday.

Through sharing past stories, and collective remembrance the TRC looks to provide reconciliation as well as awareness to all those effected by residential schools, with the event's exclamation point being the Mass and walk with Archbishop Miller.