Pope criticised for apology omissions
The Canadian government and indigenous leaders criticised Pope Francis this week, saying that that his official apology to indigenous peoples for abuses suffered in the country’s church-run schools was insufficient, and more would be needed to right the wrongs of the past.
On Monday, Pope Francis, as part of his ‘penitential pilgrimage’, issued an official apology for the ‘evil’ actions of church personnel working in state-run schools in which more than 150 000 native children were taken from their homes and made to attend church-run schools in an effort to assimilate them into Christian, Canadian society. The assimilation project began in the 19th century and ended in the 1970s.
According to Associated Press, the papal apology was met with mixed reactions from indigenous leaders and community members. Some welcomed the Pope’s apology as useful in helping them heal, while others considered the omissions in his apology as a sign that the Catholic church was not prepared to accept full responsibility for the wrongdoings.
Commenting on the apology, Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister, Marc Miller, noted that Pope Francis made no mention of the sexual abuses experienced by indigenous children attending the church-run schools. He noted further that Pope Francis apologised for the evil committed by individual Catholics but ‘not the Catholic Church as an institution’.
Appearing to take the criticism partially on board, the Pope made a second apology on Wednesday. In his address to the Canadian government, he referred to the school system as ‘deplorable’ and referred to the role that ‘local Catholic Institutions’ had played in the abuses. He also committed to moving forward on a ‘fraternal and patient journey with all Canadians, in accordance with truth and justice, working for healing and reconciliation, and constantly inspired by hope’.
In a speech just prior to the papal address, the Canadian Prime Minster, Justin Trudeau, insisted that the Catholic Church as an institution bore the blame for the various atrocities committed against indigenous children, saying that the church needed to do more to atone.
It is unclear exactly what the Church proposes regarding justice and reconciliation besides its commitment to paying an additional $30 million on top of the $50 million it has already paid to the approximately 90 000 surviving students.
