Near the end of July a year ago Pope Francis concluded a cross-country "penitential pilgrimage" to address what he admitted was the evil perpetrated against Indigenous peoples and persons through the Residential School System. These six days followed a visit by Indigenous leaders and representatives to the Vatican earlier in the year. Other Christian denominations were complicit in running these institutions of indoctrination and cultural genocide but the Roman Catholic church was the slowest to acknowledge responsibility, repent, and apologize.
A year later the question remains about what actually changed as a result of this tour. I've listened to several Indigneous leaders and journalists, some of whom went to the Vatican, and took part in the events in Alberta, Quebec, and Nunavat. Some of have been blunt in saying that not enough has transpired toward practical healing and reconciliation. Others have been remarkably gracious but agree that the pace of change and reparation has been far too slow.
The $30 million reconciliation fund is only a third of the way toward fulfillment even though a campaign to raise $300 million for building restoration continues. The Vatican is reluctant to repatriate artifacts and sacred objects in its collection, many which aren't on display, claiming that these were gifts from Indigenous communities over time.
Leaders also called for the repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery a 1455 papal bull which was essentially sanctified evil. It authorized the conquest and enslavement of non-Christian Indigenous Peoples for the purposes of land acquisition and profit from natural resources. It was repudiated in March of this year but with an unsettling and disingenuous proviso:
The ‘Doctrine of Discovery’ is not part of the teaching of the Catholic Church. Historical research clearly demonstrates that the papal documents in question, written in a specific historical period and linked to political questions, have never been considered expressions of the Catholic faith.
This may technically be true, but it is a dishonest assertion in any meaningful way, given the license it gave to explorers, armies, and prosyletizers over the course of five centuries.
The bishops of Canada released this statement to mark the first anniversary of Pope Francis' visit to mark what has happened before, during, and since he was here:
In the time since Pope Francis’ visit, the Canadian Bishops released four pastoral letters on reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples: to the First Nations, to the Inuit, to the Metis, and to the People of God. These letters came as a result of several months of encounters with Indigenous Peoples at the local level, through Listening Circles, the Indigenous delegation to the Vatican in April of 2022 and Pope Francis’ historic visit to the country in July.
Again, Indigenous leaders state that the progress toward reconciliation is simply too slow, especially for older victims of the system and that there hasn't been meaningful discussion of Land Back which Canada Council for the Arts chair Jesse Wente describes as “about the decision-making power. It’s about self-determination for our Peoples here that should include some access to the territories and resources in a more equitable fashion, and for us to have control over how that actually looks.”
What will year two of healing and reconciliation look like? We can pray that the Roman Catholic church picks up the pace in "walking together, and that the journey it is more urgent, honest, and practical.
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