Keeping Christ's Sacred Promise: A Pastoral Framework for Indigenous Ministry

The Spirit of God is active, alive, and present in Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian communities. Keeping Christ's Sacred Promise, from the Subcommittee on Native American Affairs of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), offers guidance to bishops, pastors, religious, Catholic Native leaders, and others serving Indigenous communities.

Native Indigenous Peoples do not just play an essential part of the Church's history in the Americas -- they are a vital part of our present. This pastoral framework is not meant as a comprehensive treatise of "all things Native American." The purpose of this document is to lift the major topics and concerns that emerged in dialogue with Indigenous Catholic leaders and to encourage local bishops to engage and deepen the dialogue with the local Native communities. The steps laid out in this framework seek to promote reconciliation and healing, proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ, celebrate God's love for Indigenous Peoples and peoples of all cultures, and proclaim our unity in faith in the love of Christ.