It was 1984. The summer of tall ships and Like a Virgin of Madonna. But on the wall of my little girl’s bedroom, the poster of Pope John Paul II reigned supreme. I had the enthusiasm in the bottom of the piton for the papal visit. On the grounds of Laval University, when the popemobile passed 100 m from us, I cried. Like a groupie.
Posted at 6:00 a.m.
Looking at the archival footage of a pope’s very first visit to Canadian soil, I can see that I wasn’t the only one caught up in papomania. The man in the white cassock was welcomed like a rock star in Quebec, but also in the rest of Canada during this visit which lasted 12 days. Celine Dion sang A dove in front of a packed Olympic Stadium.
Now let’s hope that the visit of Pope Francis which begins today will be nothing like the Papepalooza festival of 1984.
Not that Francis is a less popular pope than John Paul II. On the contrary. Even if it is exaggerated to speak of a Vatican revolution, we have rarely seen a Holy Father more inclined to water down his Mass wine by showing a certain flexibility on moral questions, especially with regard to the ‘homosexuality.
That said, seeing the images of the pope landing in Edmonton this Sunday, we must not forget that Canada is not only receiving a visit from the Argentinian Jorge Mario Bergoglio – as nice as he is -, but also from the figure supreme authority of a huge religious organization. An organization struggling to make amends for the wrongs caused both by its leaders and by individuals who have acted on its behalf around the world.
Moreover, Pope Francis is the first to say that his stay in Canada will not be a pleasure trip, but a “pilgrimage of penance”. And that it will be devoted almost entirely to the members of the First Nations, the Inuit and the Métis who suffered in residential schools for Aboriginal people, but also more broadly from colonialism.
It should not be lost sight of that the fault to be expiated is immense. Need we remind you that from 1820 to 1997, more than 150,000 Aboriginal children were sent to these boarding schools, where the mission was to “kill the Indian in the child” by preventing them from speaking their language and forcing Christianity down your throat.
At least 4,100 children died of neglect, malnutrition and poor care during those dark years. Tens of thousands more bear indelible marks of the physical, psychological and sexual abuse they suffered.
Of 139 residential schools that were funded by the Canadian state, nearly three-quarters were operated by Catholic religious communities.
Despite these damning figures, the Canadian Catholic Church happily dragged its feet before embarking on the path of repentance.
The residential school scandal began to emerge 30 years ago, the United Church apologized in 1986, the Anglican Church followed in 1993, the Canadian government apologized in 2010, and that’s in 2015 that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission produced its report concluding that there had been “cultural genocide”.
Despite this, it was only last year that the Canadian bishops issued a letter of apology. And it took three decades of behind-the-scenes lobbying for the pope to do the same. First in Rome last April. And this week, on Canadian soil.
So far, the papal apologies are half-hearted. Just a few days ago, Francis lamented that “many Christians, including some members of religious orders, have contributed to policies of cultural assimilation which in the past have seriously harmed indigenous populations.”
As if it were just a few bad apples who had wandered around and committed these crimes, which nevertheless spanned more than 100 years. But where is the responsibility of the shepherd in all this?
And it’s not just the speech that is timorous. So far, the Catholic Church has also been stingy with gestures, going so far as to challenge in court the sums it had to pay for healing efforts. And opposing the opening of its archives concerning the residential schools.
Small bright spot on the board: the bishops launched a new collection of 30 million for indigenous survivors last year.
Now, it remains to be seen whether Francis’ visit will mark a real turning point in the efforts of reconciliation between the Catholic Church and Indigenous peoples through courageous words and deeds. Or whether the sovereign pontiff will continue to use the convoluted vocabulary that seems directly guided by Vatican lawyers.
In the meantime, it is in sobriety that the pope must be received among us, and not in effusion.
It’s a little disturbing to read in the pages of the Sun that the stores of Quebec be filled with souvenirs bearing the effigy of the Holy Father for the fans cold.
If I were a merchant in the Old Capital, I would sell t shirts orange bearing the words “Every Child Matters”, in tribute to the victims of residential schools, rather than posters and candles bearing the photo of François.