Pope Francis apologized on Monday “for the evil that so many Christians committed against indigenous peoples” in the residential schools that operated in Canada between the end of the 19th century and the 1990s, and lamented the “colonialist mentality” of members of the Church which led to one “cultural destruction” of the natives.
The Pope, who arrived in Canada this Sundaymoved on Monday to the town of Maskwacis, where one of the largest boarding schools was located, that of Ermineskinmanaged by the Catholic Church and where children, separated from their families, were forced to forget their customs and culture and many of them ended up dying due to the terrible conditions in which they lived.
Francis’ repentance was greeted with applause by a crowd of First Nations, Metis and Inuit peoples gathered in Maskwacis, in western Alberta, where indigenous children were taken from their families and subjected to what is considered a “cultural genocide”. Francisco visited the cemetery of this schoolwhere some of those who died in this residential school are buried and kissed the very long banner with the names of the 4,120 names of the deceased children who have been identified so far.
“Colonialist Mentality”
“I have come here to tell you, with all my heart, that I am deeply hurt: I apologize for the way thatRegrettably, many Christians adopted the colonialist mentality of the powers that oppressed indigenous peoplesFrancis said in Spanish sitting among the representatives of the chiefs of the original peoples and before more than two thousand people, including many victims of these internees.
The Pope recalled that “assimilation and disengagement policieswhich also included the residential school system, were disastrous for the people of these lands“Hundreds of people, many in traditional costume, along with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the country’s first Indigenous Governor General, Mary Simon, were present for the event. Many lowered their eyes, wiped away tears or they supported and hugged those who were by their side.The indigenous leaders presented and placed on the pontiff a traditional feathered headdress.
“They ended up systematically marginalizing indigenous peoples”recognized Jorge Bergoglio, who described how “through the residential school system, their languages and cultures were denigrated and suppressed; the children suffered physical and verbal, psychological and spiritual abuse; they were taken from their homes when they were little and from this indelibly marked the relationship between parents and children, between grandparents and grandchildren”.
Francis also apologized, “in particular, for the way in which many members of the Church and religious communities cooperated, also through indifference, in those projects of cultural destruction and forced assimilation of the governments of the time, who ended up in the residential school system. The pope assured that “What the Christian faith tells us is that it was a devastating mistake, incompatible with the Gospel of Jesus Christ”.
And echoing some of the indigenous people’s requests to the Catholic Church, he assured that in this process of reconciliation it will be necessary “a serious search for the truth about the past and help the survivors of the residential schools to carry out healing processes of the traumas suffered. The Pope spoke in the area where one of the 139 residential schools devised by the Canadian State was operating, through which 150,000 native children separated from their parents passed to “Westernize” their customs.
“The place where we find ourselves echoes a cry of pain, a suffocated clamor that accompanied me during these months”Francisco said and made mention of the “physical, psychological and spiritual abuse” suffered by children. Several counselors were installed on site to provide emotional support. Shortly before, volunteers handed out small paper bags to “collect the tears.”
Before starting his speech, Francisco visited an indigenous cemetery, where he prayed in solitude sitting in the wheelchair with which he moves in some sections of the visit. He then heard the thanks of one of the chieftains, Wilton Littlechild, who attended Ermineskin boarding school for 14 years. Littlechild thanked the Francis for his words “from the bottom of my heart” and added: “I was a student here at the Ermineskin residential school, which, by your visit among us this day, represents all the residential schools in our country.”
This Tuesday, the Pope will celebrate a mass at the Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton where some 65,000 people are expected., before heading to Lake Sainte-Anne, site of an important annual pilgrimage. On Wednesday, he will visit Québec City before the last leg of the trip, on Friday in Iqaluit, a city in northern Canada in the Arctic archipelago. His agenda was accommodated to avoid large displacements due to his state of health, according to the organizers.
A possible path of reconciliation
The representatives of the indigenous peoples (the first nations, the metis and the unit) demand from the Catholic Church that those responsible for the schools be brought to justice, that the archives be opened in order to investigate, as well as that some pieces of art that belonged to them and that are in the Vatican Museums. For some of them, the pope’s words helped open a path to reconciliation, according to local media.
“Pope Francis’ words today and in Rome this spring represent a journey that has taken more than 180 years. By apologizing for past abuses, Francis has helped open the door for survivors and their families to walk together with the church for a present and future of forgiveness and healing.. I accept and choose this path,” he explained. Phil Fontaineformer head of the Assembly of First Nations, who attended two residential schools in Manitoba.
For his part, Cornell McLean, acting grand chief of the Manitoba Assembly of Chiefs, stressed that “an apology does not ease the pain of lost children who never came home,” although he encouraged the Church to “move forward in the spirit of reconciliation assuming concrete commitments and true reparations in the future”.
a hidden story
Canada is gradually opening its eyes to this past described as “culture genocide” by a national commission of inquiry. The discovery of more than 1,300 anonymous graves in 2021 near these centers caused a wave of rejection in the country. Long awaited, the papal visit, which will last six days, raises hope among some survivors and their families. Many also expect symbolic gestures, such as the restitution of indigenous art objects preserved in the Vatican for decades.
From the late 19th century to 1990, the Canadian government sent some 150,000 children to 139 church-run boarding schools, where they were separated from their families, language and culture. Many suffered physical and sexual abuse at the hands of principals and teachers, and thousands are believed to have died of disease, malnutrition or neglect.
the canadian government compensated former students with millions of dollars and officially excused himself 14 years ago for having created these schools to “kill the indigenous in the child’s heart”. After the government the Anglican Church also apologized. But the Catholic Church, in charge of more than 60 percent of these schools, had not done so until now.