All this week a delegation of Indigenous representatives has been at the Vatican, sharing their stories of trauma with Pope Francis regarding the Residential Schools which were really institutions of indoctrination and genocide. The reports were that Francis listened with compassion although some Indigenous journalists felt that the narrative was being carefully managed.
Amidst the activities of the week was a visit to a collection of historical cultural objects which Indigenous leaders hope will be repatriated. While the Vatican maintains that most were gifts, we don't know the level of coercion involved in this supposed generosity.
Some Indigenous commentators have been vocal in opposing this visit and have expressed their disdain for the Roman Catholic church which has been responsible for so much pain.
Today, which is the final meeting with the delegation, Pope Francis offered the apology which was absent from earlier conversations. It is a summary of what was heard and what we can hope was made with genuine contrition. There was also a commitment to visit Indigenous communities this year probably around the time of the Feast of St. Anne, which is in July.
Here is a portion of the apology:
All this has made me feel two things very strongly: indignation and shame. Indignation, because it is not right to accept evil and, even worse, to grow accustomed to evil, as if it were an inevitable part of the historical process. No! Without real indignation, without historical memory and without a commitment to learning from past mistakes, problems remain unresolved and keep coming back. We can see this these days in the case of war. The memory of the past must never be sacrificed at the altar of alleged progress.
I also feel shame. I have said this to you and now I say it again. I feel shame – sorrow and shame – for the role that a number of Catholics, particularly those with educational responsibilities, have had in all these things that wounded you, in the abuses you suffered and in the lack of respect shown for your identity, your culture and even your spiritual values. All these things are contrary to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For the deplorable conduct of those members of the Catholic Church, I ask for God’s forgiveness and I want to say to you with all my heart: I am very sorry. And I join my brothers, the Canadian bishops, in asking your pardon. Clearly, the content of the faith cannot be transmitted in a way contrary to the faith itself: Jesus taught us to welcome, love, serve and not judge; it is a frightening thing when, precisely in the name of the faith, counter-witness is rendered to the Gospel.
Your experiences have made me ponder anew those ever timely questions that the Creator addresses to mankind in the first pages of the Bible. After the first sin, he asks: “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9). Then, a few pages later, he asks another question, inseparable from the first: “Where is your brother?” (Genesis 4:9). Where are you? Where is your brother? These are questions we should never stop asking. They are the essential questions raised by our conscience, lest we ever forget that we are here on this earth as guardians of the sacredness of life, and thus guardians of our brothers and sisters, and of all brother peoples.
At the same time, I think with gratitude of all those good and decent believers who, in the name of the faith, and with respect, love and kindness, have enriched your history with the Gospel. I think with joy, for example, of the great veneration that many of you have for Saint Anne, the grandmother of Jesus. This year I would like to be with you on those days. Today we need to reestablish the covenant between grandparents and grandchildren, between the elderly and the young, for this is a fundamental prerequisite for the growth of unity in our human family.
As Pope Francis apologized to the Indigenous delegation at the Vatican he acknowledged their connection to the land. My Groundling blog groundlingearthyheavenly.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-la
No comments:
Post a Comment