Pope Francis issued a historic formal apology Monday to residential school survivors. The majority of these federally funded facilities, where thousands of Indigenous children were victims of neglect and physical and sexual abuse, were run by the Catholic Church.
In anticipation of the papal visit, the indigenous leaders had formulated concrete requests on what they wanted to hear from the mouth of the sovereign pontiff and on the next steps to be taken on the path of reconciliation.
Here’s what Pope Francis ultimately didn’t do:
Abolish the Doctrine of Discovery
The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) is one of the groups that have loudly called for the reversal of this 15th century policy.
This is a Vatican decree that many countries, including Canada, have used to justify the colonization of ancestral First Nations lands.
The AFN argues that this policy ignores the independence of First Nations and continues to have legal impacts today.
After the pope’s apology, in Maskwacis, Alberta, people cried out for him to invalidate this doctrine.
Apologize on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church as an institution
In his speech of apology, the pope asked forgiveness “for the evil committed by many Christians against the indigenous peoples”.
Murray Sinclair, who served as chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, said the pope left a “significant void” by refusing to recognize the role of the church itself in the residential school system. He was disappointed to hear the head of the Church “put the blame on individuals”.
“We are not just talking about a few ill-intentioned people, he recalled. It was a joint effort to remove children from their families and cultures, all in the name of Almighty Christ. »
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission listed this demand as one of its 94 calls to action.
Somehow mention sexual abuse — or even genocide
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, in its calls to action, stressed that the pope should recognize the Church’s role in the “spiritual, cultural, emotional, physical and sexual abuse that First Nations children , Inuit and Métis suffered in residential schools”.
Pope Francis did mention “physical and verbal, psychological and spiritual” abuse, but never mentioned sexual abuse.
Western University professor and Six Nations reserve member Cody Groat is confident the pope’s speech was carefully crafted and the decision to omit the sexual abuse was voluntary.
“It is something that many people have denounced, he assured. Now that he didn’t admit the sexual abuse, we need to follow up. »
The Holy Father also did not use the term “genocide,” even though the Truth and Reconciliation Commission concluded in 2015 that the residential school system led to “cultural genocide.”
Open the doors of the archives
The Vatican and Catholic entities in Canada are called upon to release more documents related to the operation of residential schools and return Indigenous artifacts to their original owners.
In particular, the Church is under pressure to provide the First Nations with documents that could identify the people who were buried near the former residential schools. Since last year, numerous excavations conducted by ground-penetrating radar have located what are believed to be hundreds of unmarked graves at former residential school sites in western Canada.
Evelyn Korkmaz, a survivor of residential schools, noticed that the Pope’s apology did not mention the return of documents held by the Church.
“It is our history that is in these documents, she hammered. They contain information about these children. This would allow their families and loved ones to turn the page. Everyone needs closure to heal and move on.
“All we ask is that these documents be made public. Their place is here, in Canada. They belong to us,” she said.
Promise compensation
The pontiff’s apology and visit to Canada come as the Catholic Church faces criticism for failing to meet its financial commitments to residential school survivors.
One of the main points of contention concerns a fundraiser in which 48 Catholic entities took part as part of the compensation for survivors.
The announced goal was $25 million, but only $4 million had been raised when a judge ruled in 2015 that the fundraiser could end.
Last September, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops also announced that it was committing $30 million over five years to initiatives related to reconciliation.
Prior to the pope’s arrival, the bishops reported that dioceses had contributed $4.6 million to the effort so far.