The pontiff shared his “personal anguish,” describing the abuses suffered by Indigenous children at the church-run boarding schools he was forced to attend in Canada.
After the discovery last year in British Columbia, of 200 unmarked graves and undocumented graves belonging to children at Canada’s largest Indigenous residential school, the expression of deep, sincere regret, which was at the time called an expression of deep, profound, and heartfelt sorrow, what was once considered sufficient is no longer enough.
Indigenous leaders expect nothing less from Pope Francis. Officials in government, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, are supporting their cause. The pontiff is expected to apologize for the church’s involvement in the abuses at boarding schools. He will be meeting with survivors of First Nations, Metis, and Inuits at the Vatican next Wednesday.
Gary Gagnon, who will be representing the Metis people with mixed Indigenous and European ancestry in this delegation said that they are trying to “give a voice to those who are voiceless” The original date was set for December but the COVID-19 pandemic forced the postponement.
From the 19th century to the 1970s, more than 150,000 indigenous children were forced into attending state-funded Christian schools. This was done to remove them from their culture and homes, Christianize them, and integrate them into the mainstream society that previous governments considered superior.
According to the government, physical and sexual abuse were rampant. Students were beaten for speaking their own languages. Indigenous leaders cite this legacy of abuse as the root cause for high rates of drug and alcohol addiction on reservations.
Nearly three quarters of the 130 residential schools were managed by Catholic missionary congregations.
The Tk’emlups Te Secwepemc Nation announced last May that they had discovered gravesites close to Kamloops in British Columbia. They were found using ground-penetrating radio. Although the sites are not yet excavated, they have renewed a national reckoning as Indigenous communities across the country search out graves at other residential schools.
“Kamloops was what really drove things forward,” stated Phil Fontaine, national chief of Assembly of First Nations in 2009, and who led the delegation that met Benedict. It caught the attention of many.
Fontaine, 77 said that he and his classmates were subject to physical and sexual abuse while he was a boy at Fort Alexander Indian Residential school in Manitoba. Fontaine was prohibited from seeing his family except for two hours on Sundays, even though they lived close by.
“Finally, Canadians are saying, “Oh, so it is true.” He said that this is what happened in residential schools. “And I believe it put a lot pressure on the Catholic Church, and the Vatican. Remember that Francis was asked to apologize by the prime minister.
Fontaine wants the pope to visit Canada, which the Vatican has already announced, but has not yet set a date.
The National Truth and Reconciliation Commission maintains records that show at least 51 children died at Kamloops School between 1915 and 1963.
The commission found that there were approximately 3,200 deaths in residential schools, many of which were due to tuberculosis. However, almost half of these deaths were not recorded. The standard practice was to not send bodies of students who died back home to their communities. However, the commission stated that the government wanted to keep costs low.
Vice president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops William McGrattan from Calgary, stated that the church hopes next week’s Vatican encounter will mark a significant moment for Canadians, but especially for First Nation and Metis.
McGrattan stated that “they will be bringing their stories and those of their communities,” McGrattan added. “Pope Francis will listen to and respond to ensure that we are on the path to reconciliation,” McGrattan said.
Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper offered a formal apology for the 2008 residential schools in Parliament, calling them a sad chapter of Canadian history and claiming that the policy of forced assimilation caused much harm.
Canada has paid billions in reparations to Indigenous communities as part of a settlement for a lawsuit that involved the government, churches, and approximately 90,000. Survivor students.
For its part, the Catholic Church has already paid more than $50 million and plans to add $30 million over the next five year.
Already, the Anglican, Presbyterian, and United churches have apologized.
Canada’s residential schools were inspired by similar facilities in the United States. Between the 19th and the 20th century, more than 150 boarding schools operated by Catholic and Protestant denominations. These schools also suffered from rampant abuse, researchers found.
Fontaine believes that Canada’s neighbour to the south is facing a day of reckoning, even though the issue has received comparatively little attention in America.
He argued that the purpose of residential schools was cultural genocide.
Fontaine stated that they decided that the best way was to place children in residential schools and forbid them from speaking Indigenous languages, forgetting about their culture. In fact, they accepted everything that wasn’t them in terms cultural and traditional, as per federal government policy.”
