Diocese of
CHURCHILL-HUDSON BAY-NUNAVUT

Visiting Our Brothers and Sisters in Faith

It happens quite often that Inuit from the hamlets of Igloolik and Hall Beach work and spend time together. The most common occasion are meetings on the regional level organized by the Government of Nunavut or other Nunavut organizations. But also as a neighboring Catholic communities we get together as much as possible.

This year the Community of Hall Beach invited the Parish Council and Youth Group members and anybody else interested from Hall Beach and Igloolik to join in the gathering that lasted two days. Last year a similar gathering was organized in Hall Beach and the main topics were the Eucharist and the practice of God's Commandments within the broader community, in families and on the personal level. This year we focused more on the Catholic Tradition with particular reference to the Word of God and the teachings of the first Oblate Missionaries in the area who arrived from Pond Inlet in 1934.

Members of the Youth Group spoke about their support for the community through organized social events such as movie nights, dropping evenings, game hours, Bible study groups, hunters support and about their participation in the organization of major celebrations during Christmas and Easter time. There was also a time for healing services, reconciliation and strengthening of the communion between those two Catholic communities. Many have expressed the desire of shared support and greater communication.

Reflecting on the traditional Inuit rules of behavior and social life we classified them rather as a life directions than the commandments in the strict sense, even though they existed long before the arrival of Christian Missionaries in this region. Young people listened with enthusiasm and eagerness to the rules of life their parents and grandparents had to obey some time ago. They wondered what happened to those rules today. All of us rediscovered the importance of those lifesaving guidelines that may still serve to save the lives of our youth as well.