A Papal Apology

On July 25th, Pope Francis apologized to Canada’s indigenous peoples and, indeed, all Canadians. Speaking in Maskwacis, Alberta, he said “With shame and unambiguously, I humbly beg forgiveness for the evil committed by so many Christians against the indigenous peoples."

"Sorry for the ways in which, regrettably, many Christians supported the colonizing mentality of the powers that oppressed the indigenous peoples. I am sorry," he said. "In the face of this deplorable evil, the Church kneels before God and implores his forgiveness for the sins of her children."

Pope Francis made this apology near the site of the former Ermineskin Indian Residential School, where ground-penetrating radar has been used to try to locate unmarked graves of students who died while attending the school.

Despite what he said, some indigenous leaders are asking if this apology was from the Church as an institution or if it was simply the Pope speaking for himself? In their view, by not accepting responsibility for the atrocities committed, the Church avoids lengthy and very costly lawsuits on behalf of the victims and their survivors. 

As well, they feel that a full apology would have to be accompanied by a rescinding of the Papal Bulls (laws) governing the conquest and subjugation of foreign lands which continue to serve to justify the Church’s past behavior to this day.

The “Doctrine of Discovery” is a series of fifteenth century papal decrees by which the Catholic Church encouraged the European takeover of the Americas to further spread Christianity. It asserted the rights of the Spanish and Portuguese to conquer and enslave indigenous peoples, convert them and seize their lands in the name of the crown. 

The Treaty of Tordesillas that divided Latin America between Spain and Portugal was signed in 1494 and was based on this Doctrine. Nowhere were the indigenous peoples considered human beings with rights to their lands and beliefs. 

The French, Spanish, British, and Portuguese used the Papal Bull to justify their conquest of the Americas while the British and Dutch in North America also sought to purchase land from the indigenous (like the Manhattan Purchase) and sign treaties with individual indigenous tribes to justify land transfers and contain indigenous populations in reservations that could be easily controlled. 

Both approaches eventually led to the tragedy of Canada’s residential schools that forced tens of thousands of children to leave their families, communities, languages and cultures, and assimilate into the settler culture. This resulted in the deaths of several thousands of children over the years and led to this visit to Canada by the Pope.

The Catholic Church played a central role in the founding and running of these schools, and this is the reason for the insistence by indigenous organizations that the Church take responsibility for its broad and deep role in this tragedy that to this day, the Church has refused to do.

The Church has always said that the Pope is infallible on questions of faith and that his word is law. The doctrine of Papal infallibility dates to the first Vatican Council that took place in 1870, almost two millennia after Christ died.

The Church bases its decision to refuse to take responsibility for its role in this tragedy since the Doctrine of Discovery was a Papal Bull.

In no sermon did Christ ever say that his Church was above the laws of humanity or that it was entitled to commit the atrocities that it (and various colonizing powers that it supported) committed over the centuries against indigenous and non-indigenous people (recall the Inquisition and its victims), or that should protect priests who commit sexual abuse and pedophilia from the law.

These abuses have been systemic and constant, justified by a system of canon laws that was created and imposed by men in order to build and maintain the power of the conservative Church infrastructure through fear and coercion.

Pope Francis is a liberal Jesuit and his objective has always been to follow Jesus’ two messages – love God and love others as you love yourself. Pope Francis has tried to address the mistakes of the past and to free the Church hierarchy from its intention to control the lives of Catholics through messaging that long ago replaced the spiritual message of Christ. 

But money talks both to the Church as an institution as well as some of the indigenous groups that could benefit from massive lawsuits should the Church find itself vulnerable.

The more militant elements of the indigenous movement don’t seem to understand that the Pope is taking this to the limit and that no further admissions of guilt are likely to be coming their way. 

In the end, we must remember that politics aside, a frail and ill octogenarian flew half-way around the world to apologize to Canada’s indigenous peoples at their request. While he may not have used the exact words some of them would have wanted in order to avoid opening the Church to lawsuits, he did follow the teachings of Christ and demonstrated empathy, love, and remorse for the victims of what those who came before him had done. 

On his way back to Rome the Pope told reporters that the Catholics who participated in the management of the residential schools had been involved in cultural genocide. 

Again, he was careful to say “Catholics” and not the “Catholic Church”.

That may well be as far as he can go.

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Keep reading: Canada Beware!

Edición: Laura Espejo