'Reconciliation was possible:' Indigenous priest reconciles faith with identity

In recent years, Cristino Bouvette, 35, has been asked on numerous occasions how he reconciles being Indigenous and being a priest. For a long time there was no conflict, he says, until he became more aware of the tragic implications of residential schools.

"She was a woman of deep faith,” Bouvette says from Calgary.

In recent years, Bouvette, 35, has been asked on numerous occasions how he reconciles being Indigenous and being a priest.

For a long time there was no conflict, he says. Christianity was ingrained in his grandmother. She grew up a member of the United Church of Canada and members of the family were ordained ministers.

Hymns echoed through the rooms of her Alberta farmhouse where a young Bouvette would eat his grandmother’s bannock and celebrate his Cree identity.