Apologies to Indigenous Peoples
The pope also blames the Canadian state
07/28/2022 03:44
Children’s graves discovered at a former Catholic boarding school in Canada shed light on the church’s dark past. Their representatives have long humiliated and mistreated indigenous peoples. However, the pope sees some complicity in the state.
During his visit to Canada, Pope Francis asked forgiveness from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for the wrongs committed by Christians against Indigenous peoples. In Quebec, the head of the Catholic Church spoke about the boarding school system, which harms many indigenous families and endangers their language, culture and worldview. “For this, I express my shame and my pain and, together with the bishops of this country, I reiterate my request for forgiveness.” At the same time, Francis rejects the sole guilt of the Church. “Certain local Catholic institutions were involved in this deplorable system advocated by government agencies at the time (…),” the 85-year-old said. His/Her message: The The Canadian state is also responsible has been.
From the 1880s, the establishments housed indigenous children torn from their families to force them to adapt to Western culture in the schools. There, for example, they were not allowed to speak their language and were not allowed to wear native clothes. A government program, supported by the Church, required that Aboriginal children be assimilated into mainstream Canadian society.
The institutes were plagued by hunger and disease, and the staff violently abused children and sexually abused them. It is estimated that up to 6,000 children never returned home and perished in this ruthless system. Beginning in the late 1960s, the state removed control of boarding schools from the Church. The last closed in 1996.
Meeting the natives and asking for forgiveness are at the heart of François’ journey. The church part of the visit follows today, Thursday, with a mass at the Basilica of Sainte-Anne de Beaupré and a meeting with church representatives. Quebec and the province of the same name in the French-speaking part of the country are predominantly Catholic. In Canada, 44% of the population is baptized Catholic, according to Vatican figures, but polls show that fewer people feel they belong to the Catholic Church.
François said in the Citadel of Quebec, a fortress once built by the British, that it is right to admit our guilt and to work to promote the rights of indigenous peoples and the processes of healing and reconciliation between them and the peoples. non-indigenous people from the region’s second largest country in the world. His desire is to renew the relationship between the Church and Indigenous peoples.
Trudeau, speaking in French and English, spoke about how lonely and isolated Indigenous children in residential schools had been. Pope Francis this week acknowledged abuses in boarding schools that led to cultural destruction, death and trauma among Indigenous peoples that persist today. “It is our responsibility to see our differences not as an obstacle, but as an opportunity to learn and understand each other better, and to take action,” said the devout Catholic.
Also present at the citadel was Mary Simon, the governor and therefore representative of the British monarchy in Canada – a rather representative office. Simon belongs to the Inuk and is the first Aboriginal to hold this position. The pope’s visit is an important step towards reconciliation, she said in her speech. Francis complied with a request from Trudeau with his apology. About a year ago, the 50-year-old asked the Argentinian to come to Canada after more than 200 unmarked children’s graves were discovered near a boarding school once run by the Catholic Church.
Pope had already asked for forgiveness, when First Nations, Métis and Inuit representatives visited him at the Vatican in late March. On Monday, he traveled to Maskwacis, in western Canada, to ask for forgiveness from the natives. For some natives the gesture is not enough, others see it as a first step on the road to reconciliation. Many had been waiting for years for a pope to ask forgiveness for their suffering in boarding schools. After the meeting at the citadel, the pontiff rode through Quebec in his papa-mobile – in front of thousands of people who cheered him on the side of the road.
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