MASKWACIS, Alberta (AP) — Pope Francis issued a historic apology Monday for the Catholic Church’s cooperation with Canada’s “disastrous” indigenous residential school policy, saying the forced assimilation of native peoples into society Christianity destroyed their cultures, separated families and marginalized generations.
“I’m deeply sorry,” Francis said to cheers from school survivors and indigenous community members gathered at a former residential school in south Edmonton, Alberta. He called the school’s policy a “disastrous mistake” that was inconsistent with the Gospel and said more research and healing was needed.
“I humbly ask for forgiveness for the evil committed by so many Christians against indigenous peoples,” Francis said.
In the first event of his week-long “penitential pilgrimage,” Francis traveled to the lands of four creed nations to pray in a cemetery and then deliver a long-sought apology at nearby ceremonial powwow grounds. Four chiefs escorted the pontiff in a wheelchair to the site near the former Ermineskin Indian Residential School and presented him with a feathered headdress after he spoke, making him an honorary leader of the community.
Francis’ words went beyond his earlier apology for the “deplorable” abuses committed by the missionaries and instead took institutional responsibility for the church’s cooperation with Canada’s “catastrophic” assimilation policy, which the country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission said amounted to “cultural genocide”.
More than 150,000 native children in Canada were forced to attend government-funded Christian schools from the 19th century until the 1970s in an effort to isolate them from the influence of their homes and culture. The goal was to Christianize them and assimilate them into mainstream society, which previous Canadian governments considered superior.
Ottawa has admitted physical and sexual abuse was rampant in schools, with students beaten for speaking their mother tongue. This legacy of abuse and isolation from family has been cited by Indigenous leaders as a major cause of the epidemic rates of alcohol and drug addiction now on Canadian reserves.
The discoveries of hundreds of possible burials in former schools last year drew international attention to schools in Canada and their counterparts in the United States. The revelations led Francis to comply with the truth commission’s call to apologize on Canadian soil; Catholic religious orders ran 66 of the country’s 139 residential schools.
Reflecting the conflicting emotions of the day, some in the crowd wept as Francis spoke, while others applauded or remained silent as he listened to his words, delivered in his native Spanish with English translations. Others chose not to attend.
“I’ve waited 50 years for this apology, and I finally heard it today,” said survivor Evelyn Korkmaz. “Part of me is happy, part of me is sad, part of me is asleep.” He added, however, that he hoped to hear a “work plan” from the pope on what he would do next to reconcile, including the release of church files on children who died in schools.
Many in the crowd wore traditional dress, including colorful ribbon skirts and vests with native motifs. Others wore orange shirts, which have become a symbol of school survivors, recalling the story of a woman whose beloved orange shirt, a gift from her grandmother, was confiscated from a school and replaced with a uniform .
“It’s something that’s needed, not just for people to listen, but for the church to be accountable,” said Sandi Harper, who traveled with her sister and a group from the Saskatchewan church in honor of her late mother, who attended a residential school.
“He recognizes that this road to reconciliation will take time, but he really agrees with us,” he said, calling the apology “genuine.”
Despite the solemnity of the event, the atmosphere seemed cheerful at times: the chiefs entered the venue with a hypnotic drum beat, the elders danced and the crowd cheered and sang war songs, victory songs and , finally, a song of healing. Participants paraded a long red banner around the grounds bearing the names of more than 4,000 children who died in residential schools or never returned home; Francis kissed her later.
“I was not disappointed. It was a very momentous occasion,” said Phil Fontaine, a residential school survivor and former chief of the Assembly of First Nations who went public with his story of sexual abuse in the years ninety
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who last year apologized for the “incredibly damaging government policy,” also attended, along with other officials.
As part of a court settlement involving the government, churches and some 90,000 survivors, Canada paid reparations that amounted to billions of dollars transferred to indigenous communities. The Catholic Church of Canada says its dioceses and religious orders have provided more than $50 million in cash and in-kind contributions and expects to add another $30 million over the next five years.
While the pope admitted fault, he also made it clear that Catholic missionaries were merely cooperating and implementing government policy, which he called the “colonizing mentality of the powers that be.” In particular, he did not refer to the 15th century papal decrees that gave religious support to the European colonial powers in the first place.
Jeremy Bergen, an expert on church apologetics and a professor of religious and theological studies at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, Ont., said Francis made it clear he was apologizing for the actions of “members of the church.” but not of the institution as a whole.
“The idea is that, as the Body of Christ, the church itself is without sin,” he said by email.
“So when Catholics do bad things, they’re not really acting on behalf of the church,” Bergen added, noting that it’s a controversial idea that many Catholic theologians disagree with.
Francis said the schools marginalized generations, suppressed indigenous languages, led to physical, verbal, psychological and spiritual abuse and “indelibly affected relationships between parents and children, grandparents and grandchildren”. He called for further investigation, a possible reference to demands for more access to church records and personal files of priests and nuns to identify perpetrators of abuse.
“Although Christian charity was not absent and there were many outstanding examples of devotion and care for children, the overall effects of the policies linked to residential schools were catastrophic,” Francis said. “What our Christian faith tells us is that it was a disastrous mistake, incompatible with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
America’s first pope was determined to make the trip, even though torn knee ligaments forced him to cancel a visit to Africa earlier this month.
The six-day visit, which also includes stops in Quebec City and Iqaluit, Nunavut, in the far north, follows meetings Francis held in the spring at the Vatican with First Nations, Metis and Inuit delegations. Those meetings culminated in Francis apologizing on April 1 for the “deplorable” abuses at the residential schools and promising to do it again on Canadian soil.
Francis recalled that one of the delegations gave him a set of beaded moccasins as a symbol of the children who never returned from schools, and asked him to return them to Canada. Francesc said that in these months “they have kept alive my feeling of sorrow, indignation and shame”, but that when they return, he hopes that they will also represent a path to walk together.
Event organizers had mental health counselors on hand Monday, knowing the event could be traumatic for some people.
Later Monday, Francis visited the Church of the Sacred Heart of the First Peoples, an Edmonton parish whose sanctuary was dedicated last week after being restored after a fire. The church incorporates indigenous language and customs into the liturgy, and both were on display during the event, with folk songs and drums and serving as a backdrop for the pope’s visit.
___
Associated Press writers Rob Gillies in Toronto and Holly Meyer in Nashville, Tenn., contributed.
___
The Associated Press’ religious coverage is supported through the AP’s partnership with The Conversation US, with funding from the Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.