Credit: @IIL on Instagram
Today, Pope Francis has made front pages in Canadian media for apologizing for the role the Roman Catholic Church played in Canada’s residential school system. The apology was made following a week of talks the pope had with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis delegations who travelled to the Vatican. Much has been made of the pope’s words, with Indigenous delegates at the Vatican expressing gratitude for Francis having made a direct apology.
However, not all perspectives on the leader of the Catholic Church’s apology are the same.
Daniel Kennedy is the personal councilor at the Institute of Indigenous Learning at Fanshawe College, and is Oneida from the Oneida Nation of the Thames, and Blackfoot from Piikani Nation. According to him, the reality of the papal apology is a complicated one: “the reactions are gonna be all over the spectrum in terms of where they would be. I can just go and speak on facts of, yes, an apology was made. But a delegation was needed to go to —what some would view as— beg for an apology for a genocide that has affected Indigenous people for seven generations, and continues to affect Indigenous people today.”
For Kennedy, receiving an apology from the church for its role in residential schools means little if real-world changes to the systems created by those systems are never addressed. “We’ve heard the words. We hear the apologies repeatedly, whether it’s Stephen Harper issuing his apology for residential schools a decade plus ago. Trudeau giving his apologies and grievances over how Indigenous people are effected by a boil water advisory.”
Despite the words of support, Kennedy explains, Indigenous peoples in Canada still fail to receive the same level of reparations for the damages done to them that institutions like the Roman Catholic Church give for other abuses: “It’s very miniscule compared to what other settlements have been done. When there has been sexual abuse allegations and lawsuits against the church in itself, right? We’re talking apples to oranges of million dollar settlements for non-Indigenous plaintiffs, and Indigenous people have to settle for $20,000 for ongoing, repeated mental, physical, sexual, and emotional abuse.”
When it comes to showing a commitment to help Indigenous people move forward, Kennedy stresses that the Vatican and the Catholic Church need actions, not words. “We’re talking about opening that piggy bank that they have and start funding Indigenous communities. Putting in real feasible infrastructure that is going to build these communities in a good way and help Indigenous people heal from the intergenerational trauma.”
At the end of the day, a papal apology to Kennedy isn’t nearly as important as real empathy and understanding of the history of Indigenous peoples. It means supporting Indigenous people in issues like oil pipelines being constructed through traditional First Nations territories that pollute hunting grounds. It means self-awareness at how Canada and Canadians have benefited off the use of First Nation land for economic success while First Nation people are not benefiting the same.
In the Vatican, there are talks of Pope Francis making a trip to Canadian soil to express words of apology. But from Kennedy’s perspective, Indigenous people have enough words, and now need action.
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