When 48 Catholic Church entities pledged to raise $25 million for survivors under the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, it was made clear that they would do so through their “best efforts.”
Ken Young sees it differently.
The former Manitoba regional chief of the Assembly of First Nations believes that this clause allowed the Church to avoid its obligations.
In total, the Church’s fundraising campaign raised less than $4 million. That money formed part of the restitution package that Catholic entities agreed to pay under the 2006 settlement with Ottawa, former students and Indigenous leaders.
Nine years later, a Saskatchewan judge ruled that church bodies were released from their remaining obligations.
“They said, ‘We tried our best and we failed,’” recalls Mr. Young, who is himself a residential school survivor.
” I’ve been disappointed. »
That story set the stage for a new pledge Canadian bishops made last September that dioceses would dedicate $30 million to initiatives that provide healing opportunities for residential school survivors, their loved ones, and wider communities.
The discovery last year of what are believed to be hundreds of unmarked graves at former residential schools in western Canada has also shed light on failures by Catholic entities to raise funds for survivors in the past.
Now the bishops are preparing for the imminent arrival of Pope Francis, who is expected to apologize for the Catholic Church’s role in running the schools.
Catholic leaders are seeking donations to help fund his visit, including through the sale of what a spokeswoman described as “modest quantities” of t-shirts, hats and bandanas.
“Any modest proceeds will be directed towards the papal visit and the ongoing journey of healing and reconciliation,” said Laryssa Waler.
Although the Vatican is believed to hold considerable wealth, fundraising for reconciliation has been undertaken by Canadian Catholic entities. Leaders say the Church in Canada has a decentralized structure, meaning decisions are made by individual dioceses.
The bishops are members of a national assembly called the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. The group said it was not a party to the original settlement that prompted the ‘best efforts’ fundraiser, but nonetheless acknowledged its failure and said it had learned important lessons of what had happened.
These lessons, the conference said, prompted it to create the Indigenous Reconciliation Fund and appoint Indigenous board members to oversee it.
The fund, which was registered as a charity in March, is accepting contributions and reviewing proposals for the use of the money, the conference said.
The organization also promised to provide public updates on progress towards the $30 million goal, which it pledged to reach by January 2027.
But to date, there have been no details on the amount currently held in the fund.
“We expect to have a substantial update on this work in the near future,” spokesperson Jonathan Lesarge said.
For Regina Archbishop Don Bolen, who oversees a diocese that includes 25 First Nations communities, it’s about building relationships and prioritizing reconciliation work.
“We said we were making a financial commitment,” he said.
The archdiocese has set a goal of donating $2 million over five years. So far, the payout stands at $1.5 million, he said.
As part of its efforts, the archdiocese suspended a multimillion-dollar campaign to fund cathedral renovations and a pastoral center.
Instead, Archbishop Bolen recalled, church leaders decided “to approach these donors and say, ‘We have to do the work of truth and reconciliation first.’ »
He said that, like the general Canadian public, his parishioners have learned more about the legacy of residential schools in recent years.
An estimated 150,000 Aboriginal children were forced into government-funded institutions for a century. The Catholic Church ran about 60% of them. Many children have been abused and neglected.
“In the Church, you’re starting to see history in a new way,” Bolen said, “to see the history of Catholic engagement with Indigenous peoples through a new lens, truly attentive to the experience of suffering. »
This heightened awareness is one of the key differences the Archbishop sees between the “best effort” campaign of the past and the current financial commitment.
“The parishioners were, for the most part, not ready for this challenge and did not see things the way many of them do now. »
The federal government announced last week that it would provide more than $35 million during the papal visit to Canada to support communities, organizations and residential school survivors.
Pope Francis is due to visit Alberta, Quebec and Nunavut July 24-29.
The Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Program has a hotline to help survivors of residential schools and their loved ones suffering from trauma caused by the memory of past abuse. The number is 1-866-925-4419.