When the Vatican returned 62 Indigenous artifacts to Canada, many saw it as a gesture of reconciliation. But was something deeper being communicated?

In this wide-ranging and provocative episode of Catholic in America, Jason Adkins speaks with sociologist and First Nations member Dr. Ashley Frawley about cultural identity, trauma narratives, missionary history, and the universal claim of Catholicism.

Drawing on her Compact Magazine essay, “Are We Not Catholics Too?”, Dr. Frawley challenges the assumption that Indigenous Catholics are victims of Western imposition rather than full participants in the Church’s universal story. She argues that modern therapeutic and multicultural frameworks risk denying Indigenous agency, common humanity, and even the Church’s civilizational mission.

The conversation explores reconciliation, residential schools, the trauma paradigm, and the tension between cultural particularity and Catholic universality. It also raises a deeper theological question: Is Christianity truly a gift for all peoples, or merely one tradition among many?

Topics covered:

• The Vatican’s repatriation of Indigenous artifacts and its meaning
• Trauma narratives and the loss of agency
• The legacy and complexity of residential schools
• Truth and reconciliation commissions and their limits
• Multiculturalism versus universality
• Christianity, Enlightenment, and human dignity
• Evangelization, inculturation, and the Great Commission
• The danger of treating Catholicism as a Western possession

Dr. Frawley offers a powerful reminder that Catholic means universal, and that the Church’s mission is not cultural erasure but cultural elevation and integration into a shared human inheritance.

Links: 

Compact Magazine Article: “Are We Not Catholics Too?”
https://www.compactmag.com/article/are-we-not-catholics-too/

Ashley Frawley Bio (Compact Magazine)
https://www.compactmag.com/contributor/ashley-frawley/

Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops – Vatican Artifacts Return to Canada
https://www.cccb.ca/media-release/vatican-artifacts-return-to-canada/

Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development – Church’s Commitment to Indigenous Peoples in Canada
https://www.humandevelopment.va/en/news/2026/churchs-commitment-to-indigenous-peoples-in-canada.html

National Catholic Reporter – Vatican Returns Indigenous Artifacts
https://www.ncronline.org/news/vatican-returns-dozens-indigenous-artifacts-hundreds-remain-says-canadian-indigenous-leader

Jason Adkins, host of Catholic in America, engages our own time, culture, and political milieu with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to explore how to live more fully Catholic. With so much to explore, we have guests from a variety of perspectives and faith backgrounds, and conversations do not necessarily constitute endorsements.

Catholic in America is an OSVNews.com podcast partnership. Support Catholic in America by becoming a patron of the show here.