ANISHINABEK NATION–Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief Patrick Madahbee responded to a letter released to the Indigenous Peoples of Canada on Wednesday. Pope Francis stated that he cannot personally issue an apology to residential school survivors and their families for the role the Roman Catholic Church played in the operation of the schools and abuses inflicted upon students.
“All other denominations have publicly apologized for their role in the Indian Residential School system in Canada,” said Grand Chief Madahbee in a press release. “The Government of Canada has apologized. This has opened the door for reconciliation and healing. The Roman Catholic Church, despite having stripped away our children’s Spirit, language and identity through the predatory abuse in biblical proportions, have yet to acknowledge the unfathomable atrocities preventing our people from moving forward. They continue to turn a blind eye to the deplorable behaviour that caused intergenerational trauma. The Bishops have been talking out of both sides of their mouths––talking about reconciliation out of one side and then advising against apologizing from the other.”
A papal apology is No. 58 of the 94 Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) recommendations. This recommendation is similar to the apology offered by the Pope in Bolivia in 2015 where he ‘humbly [asks] for forgiveness, not only for the offense of the church herself, but also for crimes committed against the native peoples during the so-called conquest of America.’
“The overwhelming disappointment and outrage that overcame me upon learning of the Pope’s refusal to apologize reflects the sentiment echoed by our citizens across the Anishinabek Nation,” said Grand Chief Madahbee. “We would welcome acknowledgement of the Church’s heinous crimes committed against our people and an apology from Pope Francis similar to that made to the Indigenous peoples in the Americas for the Church’s ‘grave sins’ against them during the colonial era before considering any kind of reconciliation with the Catholic Church.”
The federal government’s church-run residential school system was created for the purpose of assimilating Indigenous children by removing the children from their homes and communities and forcing them into schools where they were not allowed to speak their language or engage in cultural practices, the press release continues. “During this time, more than 150,000 Indigenous children were placed in residential schools and many reported being physically, psychologically, and sexually abused at the hands of Catholic priests, nuns, or other educators.”
