He was given an Aboriginal ceremonial headdress. He silenced a crowd of thousands when he stood in front of graves at a former Indian residential school. And he apologized for the role of “many Christians” in these residential schools.
Updated yesterday at 11:52 p.m.
“It is from here, from this sadly evocative place, that I would like to begin what dwells in my soul, a penitential pilgrimage,” Pope Francis said Monday morning as he visited the site of the former Maskwacis boarding school. , one hour south of Edmonton. “I come to your native lands to tell you personally how much I am afflicted, to implore God’s forgiveness, healing and reconciliation, to show you my closeness, to pray with you and for you. I humbly ask forgiveness for the evil committed by many Christians against the indigenous peoples. »
The pope’s apology was met with applause from the crowd.
Words that also satisfied Cree elder John Cryer. He was taking part Monday afternoon in a press conference of the chiefs of the Treaty 6 Confederation, which brings together First Nations in northern Alberta who signed a treaty with the Crown in 1876.
[Le pape] apologized. I expect them [l’Église catholique] work on healing. After all, we walk together on this plane.
Cree Elder John Cryer
The leaders present at the press conference were not all so lenient in the face of the pope’s apology. “It will reopen wounds for survivors,” said Chief Desmond Bull of Louis Bull First Nation. Others pointed out that many former residential school students died before hearing such apologies from the Church, which operated two-thirds of those facilities on behalf of the federal government.
SCREENSHOT FROM A CPAC YOUTUBE VIDEO
Treaty 6 Confederate Chiefs Press Conference, Accompanied by a Cree Former Indian Residential School Student
Mr. Cryer, however, returned to the Pope’s defense during question period. When a Cree reporter asked why a ceremonial headdress was given to the pope, Mr. Cryer made a point of answering on behalf of the group of chiefs and survivors assembled before the reporters. “It means that he is part of our community, that we have adopted him. He also appreciated that the pope spoke in Spanish, his mother tongue, rather than English.
PHOTO ERIC GAY, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Pope Francis, surrounded by Indigenous leaders, offered a long-awaited apology to the victims of residential schools, during a ceremony in Maskwacis.
This apology was made at the site where the Cree community holds its powwows. Former boarding school students who converged from across the west were welcomed to an indigenous primary school while the pope meditated at the local cemetery, before everyone headed to Maskwa Park, erected on the site of the former boarding school for Natives. The noisy crowd gathered in the park suddenly fell silent when the images of the pope at the cemetery were broadcast, journalists on site testified on Twitter.
A stronger apology than the previous ones
VATICAN MEDIA PHOTO, VIA REUTERS
Pope Francis meditates in front of a banner bearing the names of children from residential schools during his visit to Maskwacis.
The “penitential pilgrimage” stems from a visit by three indigenous delegations to the Vatican in late March. The apologies then made by the pope were less strong than those of Monday. Last spring, he deeply regretted “the deplorable conduct of members of the Catholic Church”. On Monday, he spoke of the oppression of Indigenous peoples by “many members of the Church,” but said it was sometimes out of “indifference” and that there had been “many exemplary instances of devotion to children. “. He lamented the “devastating error” and “catastrophic consequences” of residential schools, but did not attribute them to the Catholic Church. François nevertheless spoke of his “shame”.
Audrey Poitras, president of the Métis Council of Alberta, went further in her statement at a press conference Monday noon in Edmonton: “Reconciliation can only happen if the Church and the Government of Canada committed to providing resources for mental health, education and nutrition, among others,” said Ms.me Poitras, who also called for the disclosure of federal and religious records and sanctions for “those who committed these atrocities against our children and our communities.”
PHOTO NATHAN DENETTE, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Pope Francis bows his head during the service at Sacred Heart of First Peoples Church in Edmonton.
Ghislain Picard, Grand Chief of the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador (AFNQL), judged that Monday’s apologies were in line with those of Rome in the spring. He expects that apology to be repeated in Quebec later this week.
But a participant in the Treaty 6 Confederation press conference, Evelyn Korkmaz, a Cree former student of residential schools for Indians, would like something other than an apology in Quebec.
I’m going to make the trip to Quebec and I expect that we move on to another stage, that a plan be presented to achieve reconciliation.
Evelyn Korkmaz, Cree former residential school student
PHOTO VINCENZO PINTO, FRANCE-PRESSE AGENCY
In the evening, the pope took part in a ceremony in the Church of the Sacred Heart of the First Peoples of Edmonton.
“Forgiveness is a Christian concept”
The very concept of forgiveness was also questioned by a political scientist from the University of Alberta, Matthew Wildcat, who is a Cree from Maskwacis. “Forgiveness is a Christian concept,” Wildcat said in a press conference call last Friday. For us, healing does not necessarily imply forgiveness. You can stay angry and still heal. »
In the evening, the Pope met with other Aboriginal people at the Church of the Sacred Heart of the First Nations in Edmonton. After a drumming ceremony and religious songs in Cree, Francis said he had just seen the “concrete actions” needed for a “healing” process. He was happy to see people from various First Nations, “non-natives and immigrants” together. He also added to his morning apologies, deploring the “feeling of inferiority” conveyed to Aboriginal people by “certain Catholics” who participated in the residential school system. He ended his talk by comparing the indigenous tepees to the tents where the Hebrews met during the crossing of the desert with Moses.
PHOTO NATHAN DENETTE, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Congregants greet Pope Francis after his visit to the Church of the Sacred Heart of First Peoples in Edmonton.
The pope arrived in Alberta on Sunday. He will celebrate a mass on Tuesday morning at the Commonwealth Stadium, the 65,000 tickets of which had all been distributed on Monday morning, forcing the opening of broadcast sites in nearby parks. On Tuesday evening, the pope will visit the shrine of Saint Anne at the lake of the same name, an hour west of Edmonton. On Wednesday, he flies to Quebec, where he will have formal meetings. He will then take a Popemobile ride on the Plains of Abraham. Thursday will be a mass at Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, a popular shrine with many Aboriginal people who worship the grandmother of Jesus.
In the papal plane that brought him to Edmonton, the pope also mentioned the importance of grandparents. Quoting the Argentine poet Francisco Luis Bernárdez, he said that “all the flowers of a tree come to it from what is underground, that is, the grandparents”.
The excuses in a few excerpts
Passing through Maskwacis, Alberta, on Monday, Pope Francis offered a long-awaited apology to the victims of residential schools for Aboriginal people, while insisting on the “penitential” aspect of his trip to Canada. Here are excerpts from his speech.
I remember the meetings I had in Rome four months ago. I had been given two pairs of moccasins, a sign of the suffering endured by Aboriginal children, especially those who, unfortunately, never returned home from residential schools. I had been asked to return the moccasins once I arrived in Canada; I will do so at the end of this speech, for which I would precisely like to draw inspiration from this symbol which has revived in me pain, indignation and shame during these last months. The memory of these children arouses pain and encourages action so that each child is treated with love, honor and respect. But these moccasins also speak to us of a journey, a journey that we want to follow together.
Pope Francis
This is why the first stage of my pilgrimage among you takes place in this region which has witnessed, since time immemorial, the presence of indigenous peoples. It is a territory that speaks to us, that allows us to remember. To remember: brothers and sisters, you have lived on this land for thousands of years according to ways of life respectful of the land itself, inherited from past generations and preserved for future generations. You have treated it as a gift from the Creator to be shared with others and loved in harmony with all that exists, in a mutual relationship of life between all living beings.
Pope Francis
[…] It is right to remember this, because forgetfulness leads to indifference and, as we have said, the opposite of love is not hate, it is indifference. […], the opposite of life is not death, but indifference to life or death. Remembering the devastating experiences that took place in residential schools for aboriginal people touches us, outrages us and hurts us, but it is necessary. It is necessary to remember how devastating the policies of assimilation and enfranchisement, including the residential school system, were for the inhabitants of these lands.
Pope Francis
I ask forgiveness, in particular, for the way in which many members of the Church and religious communities cooperated, even through indifference, with these projects of cultural destruction and forced assimilation of the governments of the time, which resulted in the residential school system. Although Christian charity was present and there were many exemplary instances of devotion to children, the overall consequences of the residential school policies were catastrophic. What the Christian faith tells us is that this was a devastating error, incompatible with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Pope Francis
Dear brothers and sisters, many of you and your representatives have said that apologies are not an end. I completely agree: they are only the first step, the starting point. I too am aware that, looking to the past, what can be done to seek forgiveness and reparation for the damage caused will never be enough and that, looking to the future, nothing should be neglected to promote a culture capable of only to ensure that such situations do not recur, but also that they cannot find fertile ground to be concealed and perpetuated.
Pope Francis