THUNDER BAY – Fort William First Nation Chief Peter Collins says he believes Pope Francis was sincere in making an apology to Canada’s Indigenous Peoples over the Catholic Church’s role in the residential school system.
The Pope made the apology on Monday in Maskwacis First Nation, on the second day of a seven-day visit to Canada.
The apology came at the behest of Indigenous, Inuit and Metis leaders and residential school survivors, who earlier this year met with the Pope at the Vatican.
“What we would like to see from the church is that they apologize to our members, apologize to our communities, apologize to the survivors, and at the same time make it a commitment that the church will never have an impact on our kids again."
Residential schools were operated in Canada from the 1870s until the early 1990s, with Indigenous children in remote communities taken from their homes and forced to assimilate into Christian culture, their traditional culture and language taken away.
Many Indigenous, Inuit and Metis children also faced physical, mental and sexual abuse at the hands of those who were supposed to watch over them, including members of the clergy.
The after affects are still being felt today, the inter-generational trauma still impacting families decades later.
Pope Francis expressed sorrow, indignation and shame at the Catholic Church’s actions and the deplorable evil of residential schools.
“I have been waiting to come here and be with you here, from this place associated with painful memories,” the Pontiff said. “I would like to begin, what I consider a pilgrimage, a penitential pilgrimage. I have come to your native lands, to tell you in person of my sorrow, to implore God’s forgiveness, healing and reconciliation, to express my closeness and to pray with you, and for you.”
In Thunder Bay, it was an emotional afternoon for a dozen or so Indigenous People who joined Bishop Fred Colli at the Catholic Archdiocese to watch the Pope make his apology, including a handful of residential school survivors.
Grace Esquega, who attended residential schools, said it felt like the Pope was speaking from the heart.
“It was kind of a relief, in a way, because of the unforgiveness of our people. Now that we’ve heard the apology, saying ‘I’m sorry,’ it’s heartfelt and I’m truly grateful for this moment to hear our Pope talking about the healing, the journey that we need to begin,” Esquega said.
Colli said the apology will allow that period of healing to truly being, adding it’s just the first step on the road to reconciliation.
“(The Pope) encourages all Christians and all of us to work together and to put things in process so that we can better recognize the culture, the religion and the spirituality and also the language of our Native peoples of Canada, and appreciate them for the great goodness that they bring us,” Colli said.