Global Courant
Phil Fontaine has had a year to think since hearing an apology from the head of the Roman Catholic Church, something the former Assembly of First Nations national leader spent much of his life fighting to deliver on Canadian soil.
“Without an apology, it would be impossible to forgive,” Fontaine says after reflecting on the historic moment.
“And without forgiveness there can be no true healing.”
This week marks one year since Pope Francis arrived in Canada. He made his first apology in Maskwacis, a Cree community south of Edmonton, to thousands of survivors, leaders, and community members.
Pope Francis said he regretted the role of the Roman Catholic Church in the cultural destruction and forced assimilation of indigenous peoples, culminating in residential schools.
The pope offered further apologies when he stopped in Alberta, Quebec and Nunavut during the six-day tour. On his flight back to Rome, Francis said in response to a journalist’s question that the abuses faced by indigenous peoples amounted to genocide.
The apology received mixed reactions. Many indigenous people said it was necessary, especially for residential school survivors, because it meant the head of the Catholic Church finally acknowledged that damage had been done.
Some criticized Francis for not going far enough. Others felt that indigenous peoples and organizations should withdraw from the Church altogether because they had put enough effort into it. Many called for action, not words.
For Fontaine, the apology was extremely important.
The abuse in the schools was long silenced nationally, but Fontaine broke the silence in 1990 when he spoke of his own experiences at the Fort Alexander Residential School in Manitoba.
An estimated 150,000 Indigenous children were forced to attend residential schools. More than 60 percent of the schools were run by the Catholic Church.
Fontaine went to the Vatican in 2009 to meet Benedict, who was then the pope, and asked for an apology. Benedict did not oblige.
Fontaine traveled to the Vatican again last year with an indigenous delegation. This time, Pope Francis issued his first apology and promised to take his atonement to Canada.
The apology may not have been accepted by everyone, but Francis’ plea for forgiveness is just part of the journey the church needs to take, Fontaine says.
“We each received the apology in our own way as individuals,” says Fontaine. “And we decide as individuals if we want to forgive.”
Donald Bolen, the archbishop of Regina, described the visit and the pope’s apology as “life-giving”. But when Pope Francis left, Bolen says, it became even more important for the church to act.
“The real reconciliation work is happening on the ground day after day,” he says. “We are on a long journey of reconciliation.”
Pope Francis asked Canadian Catholics to commit to four things: ensuring that history is told truthfully; in support of indigenous language, culture and traditions; be an ally in the pursuit of justice; and to appreciate indigenous wisdom to care for the land and environment.
“It’s easier to say it than to do it,” says Bolen.
Bolen reflected on what the Church has accomplished in the past 12 months. Many dioceses, including his own, have worked to make archives accessible. There has been financial support for culture camps and a national fundraising campaign by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Earlier this year, the Vatican formally denounced the 15th-century papal bulls used as the basis for the Doctrine of Discovery, which legitimized the conquest of indigenous lands.
Bolen says the tough day-to-day task for churches at the local level will be to build relationships with Indigenous people, listen carefully and learn to work together to improve society.
But Bolen acknowledges that not every non-Indigenous Catholic has made the same commitment to reconciliation. Shifts in society happen over a long period of time, he says.
“People are in different places on the journey.”
Paul Gareau, an associate dean in Native Studies at the University of Alberta, says he feels “somewhat confused and maybe a little hopeful” a year after the apology.
Gareau, who is Metis and hails from the Batoche Homeland in Saskatchewan, says he felt “stupid” when he saw Francis take part in the Lac Ste. Anne pilgrimage with a red Metis sash around his neck.
In the historical relationship between Catholics and Indigenous peoples, Gareau says the Church has acted “like evil relatives,” making betrayal even more devastating.
“The church needs to think about how to be a good family member,” he says.
Francis said in his apology that indifference is the greatest evil, so now it’s up to the Catholic institution to work to dismantle 400 years of colonial thinking toward indigenous peoples, Gareau says.
Gareau pointed to Vatican II, which significantly modernized church practices to accommodate cultural shifts in the early 1960s. Not everyone immediately embraced the structural changes, but eventually it revolutionized the church.
Francis has steered the ship toward reconciliation, says Gareau. But the Church must now recognize indigenous sovereignty, and that means establishing diplomatic relations and returning land.
It also means changing the hearts and minds of Catholics and dismantling anti-Indigenous structural racism – work that cannot and should not rely on Indigenous people.
“There is so much at stake.”
The Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Program has a hotline to assist residential school survivors and their relatives who are suffering from trauma caused by the memory of past abuse. The number is 1-866-925-4419.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on July 23, 2023.