The Earth Elders at the Vatican: A New Era of Healing and Dialogue

For more than five centuries, Indigenous peoples across the world have carried the consequences of the Papal Bulls [15th-century decrees that authorized Christian nations to claim and dominate non-Christian lands] and the imperial systems that followed in their wake. These edicts—and the worldviews they legitimised—left deep wounds on original peoples, their lands, and their cultural continuity. Today, however, we stand at the threshold of a new era.

The Earth Elders are committed to helping restore balance and harmony by engaging directly with the Vatican in a process of truth-telling, repair, and renewed relationship.

Over the past several years, our Council has sustained a quiet but meaningful dialogue with senior figures in the Church. This ongoing engagement reflects a shared understanding that healing requires more than statements—it requires presence, reciprocity, and courageous listening.

A moment of shared reflection in Rome, as Mindahi Bastida meets with Pope Francis to deepen conversations on stewardship and the sacred responsibilities we hold to the Earth.

Earlier this year, our Convenor Mindahi Bastida traveled to Rome for the latest in a series of meetings with Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. These conversations have deepened mutual understanding around the historic harms experienced by Indigenous peoples, and the enduring need for moral leadership in addressing them. Mindahi’s presence in Rome represents a symbolic and practical bridge between ancient traditions of Earth-care and the Vatican’s own evolving commitment to justice and ecological responsibility.

Council Member Rutendo Ngara also travelled to the Vatican, where she joined delegates in a courtesy greeting with the newly elected Pope Leo XIV following her powerful keynote calling for global governance to be re-rooted in the Original Instructions, which are central to Indigenous ethics, together with pluriversal knowledge systems and right relationship with Earth, as a pathway to addressing the ethical and epistemic fractures driving the polycrisis.

Together, these encounters signal a growing openness—within both the Earth Elders and the Vatican—to envision a new compact grounded in respect, reconciliation, and shared responsibility for our planetary future.

Looking ahead, we hope to collaborate with the Vatican to advance several key priorities:

• The return of sacred objects held within Vatican collections—objects that contain memory, lineage, and the spiritual integrity of Indigenous nations.

• Dialogue on lands administered by Jesuit and related institutions, ensuring they are stewarded in ways that honour ancestral rights, cultural continuity, and ecological regeneration.

• A long-term framework for truth, healing, and partnership between original peoples and the Church.

This work is only beginning, but hope is emerging. After centuries of rupture, the possibility of renewal is within reach. The Earth Elders remain committed to walking this path with humility, clarity, and the guidance of our ancestors—toward a future where balance and harmony can be restored.

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