Project
Faith Based Communities
CELT stays attentive to the pulse of land transitions unfolding within faith-based communities. To date, we have witnessed and offered support for land transition efforts involving the United Church of Canada, the United Church of Christ, multiple Quaker organizations, and several communities of Catholic Sisters. We continue this work in close relationship with Land Justice Futures, a sister organization dedicated to supporting Catholic Sisters and other faith leaders in understanding the legacies of religious colonialism and accompanying processes of relational and material repair through education, community, and action.
Context and Responsibility
For more than 500 years, the Doctrine of Discovery has shaped the legal and moral foundations of colonization and private property, providing religious justification for land theft, violence, and Indigenous dispossession. In 2023, the Catholic Church, alongside other Christian denominations, formally repudiated the doctrine. While this step matters, faith-based communities remain early in the long process of repair. As 2026 marks 250 years since the founding of the United States, this moment calls for deeper reflection on these legacies and recognition that healing from harm has only begun. Initiatives such as the Motherhouse Project and the Coalition to Dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery are helping faith communities move from listening toward accountability, relationship, and meaningful action.
A Historic Land Return
In October 2025, our sister organization Land Justice Futures celebrated a historic milestone when the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration of Arbor Vitae, Wisconsin, transferred title of the Marywood Franciscan Spirituality Center to the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, the original Indigenous caretakers of the land. This marked the first known Catholic land return to a Tribal Nation in the United States as an act of repair for colonization and residential boarding schools, and the first rematriation carried out by women religious.
Land Justice Futures has been a trailblazer in this field. Their educational offerings elevate intersectional voices of women’s wisdom and leadership, while their hands-on Focus Communities support Catholic Sisters in transforming values into reparative action. We have been honored to serve as faculty and movement partners in this work. This land transition marks a first in what we anticipate will become a broader and ongoing movement of many more to follow.