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Catholic clergy participate in First Nations ritual in Ottawa cathedral - Stone - 10-07-2026
Catholic clergy participate in First Nations ritual in Ottawa cathedral
A purification ritual involving smoke, sacred plants, an indigenous hymn, and prayers to the four directions preceded a Mass at Ottawa’s Notre-Dame Basilica.
![[Image: smudgingg-e1791305595685.jpg]](https://www.lifesitenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/smudgingg-e1791305595685.jpg)
A purification ritual involving smoke, sacred plants, an indigenous hymn, and prayers to the four directions preceded a Mass at Ottawa’s Notre-Dame Basilica.
OTTAWA, Ontario (LifeSiteNews) — The Notre-Dame Basilica in Ottawa marked Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation last week with a special Mass that included an indigenous purification ceremony and other pagan practices.
After the procession and opening hymn of the September 30 Mass, celebrated by Father Daryold Winkler, a woman offered a “land acknowledgment,” followed by a purification ritual that involved fanning smoke over those present as an indigenous hymn was recited before the four directions prayer.
The subsequent four directions prayer used “sacred plants,” including sweet grass, cedar, sage, and tobacco, to “purify” the space with a prayer facing each of the four cardinal directions (north, east, south, west) of the 19th-century cathedral.
The Catholic clergy present each participated in these pagan rituals before the Mass officially began.
While the Catholic Church has always sought to bring people of all cultures together, it has also always condemned the concept of syncretism, or the blending of pagan and other non-Catholic rituals, such as indigenous purification ceremonies, with Catholic practices.
“As we begin this evening’s celebration, let us take a moment to acknowledge the sacred land on which we gather. We recognize and honor the traditional and unceded territory of the Algonquin … whose stewardship of this land continues to inspire our journey toward truth and reconciliation,” the unidentified laywoman said during the leftist “land acknowledgment.
In recent years, the Canadian Church has incorporated pagan indigenous rituals into Catholic Masses as well as given in to leftist narratives about the country’s residential schools.
Perhaps most notably, during Pope Francis’ visit to Canada in 2022, the 266th pontiff attended a “healing dance” in Maskwacis, Alberta, that appeared to direct worship to “Mother Earth.”
Before the event, the master of ceremonies explained that a “healing dance” was about to occur while outlining that the drum involved is “the heartbeat of Mother Earth, the drum is life.” During the pagan ritual, Indigenous people gathered in a circle around a large tree branch, chanting and playing the drum as others dressed in feathers and other traditional outfits began dancing.
Francis, along with four Indigenous chiefs donning traditional headdresses and garb, sat on a stage slightly above the dance, giving them a view of the happenings.