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Pope accepts invitation to visit Canada for healing and reconciliation; time for apologies has long since passed, says Kakfwi

Pope Francis has accepted an invitation to visit Canada with a theme of “healing and reconciliation,” however, when that will take place and whether it will include an apology for abuses that took place at residential schools is still to be decided.
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Pope Francis has accepted an invitation to visit Canada with a theme of “healing and reconciliation,” however, when that will take place and whether it will include an apology for abuses that took place at residential schools is still to be decided.

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) stated in an Oct. 27 news release that His Holiness will visit Canada.

Rev. Raymond Poisson, president of the CCCB said in a statement that Canadian bishops have been working with Indigenous people in Canada about the effects of residential schools and that it’s hoped that Francis’s visit will be beneficial.

There was no commitment to an apology, however.

“The bishops of Canada have been engaged in meaningful discussions with Indigenous peoples, especially those affected by residential schools who have shared stories about the suffering and challenges that they continue to experience,” said Poisson. “We pray that Pope Francis’s visit to Canada will be a significant milestone in the journey toward reconciliation and healing.”

The announcement follows an Oct. 14 news conference held by Dene National Chief Norman Yakeleya, who’s also a leader within the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) and oversees the residential school portfolio.

Yakeleya told reporters that he and an AFN delegation accepted an invitation to Rome to visit the Pope from Dec. 17 to 20. That delegation is to be made up of residential school survivors, Elders, knowledge keepers and youth, according to the news release from the bishops.

Yakeleya said at the time that he hoped Francis would visit Canada too.

The bishops of Canada have addressed the legacy of residential schools since the summer, which included a formal apology on Sept. 24 and a commitment to support Metis, Inuit and First Nations people in their healing journeys.

The bishops also announced a $30 million commitment over up to five years, which will go towards programs and initiatives in every region of Canada to help Indigenous people.

RoseAnne Archibald, national chief of the AFN, issued a statement with a list of demands indicating that Francis is welcome to visit but she expects a “long overdue apology to survivors and inter-generational trauma survivors.

“I reiterate that the Catholic church must be accountable and acknowledge their responsibility for the great harm caused by their direct role in the institutions of assimilation and genocide that they ran,” she said.

Archibald also called for the Catholic Church to return diocese-owned land back to First Nations in cases where that land is located on traditional territory. She also demanded more than $30 million be provided for long-term healing initiatives for survivors and future generations.

“Over 100 years of church efforts have resulted in the destruction of the social fabric of First Nations” she said. “Now, equal time, energy and resources must be made available to rebuild our children’s lives, our families and communities.”

She’s also asking the Pope to “renounce and revoke” a 1493 doctrine and replace it a new papal decree that recognizes that Indigenous peoples are valuable, worthy and who must be treated with dignity and respect.

Not all Northern Indigenous leaders saw much value in the Pope’s gesture.

Former premier Stephen Kakfwi said in an interview on Oct. 27 that the time for apologies and reparations have largely come and gone.

Although he has embraced Christian principles he has had a falling out with Catholicism, which he sees as exceedingly rich and powerful with huge tracts of land, elaborately built cathedrals, and their own school boards.

“You can’t get an apology out of them when anywhere else (residential school abuses) would constitute crimes against our humanity,” he said. “I think some of our people will say to Pope Francis ‘Thank you so much, it makes me feel better,’ but there will be those of us that will say, ‘So what?’

“Does the Pope have Indigenous friends or has he ever held council with a circle of Indigenous leaders? The days for apologies are long, long past.”

Kakfwi hosted Pope John Paul II’s visit to Fort Simpson in 1987 on behalf of the First Nations, Metis and Inuit at around the time when Indigenous people were trying to get the right to self-government into the Constitution of Canada.

“We never did get that, but Pope John Paul did come and he said he did regret the role that the church played (in the treatment of) Indigenous people and that he supported the just and equitable resource settlement of land and resources,” Kakfwi said. “So what else is Francis going to say?”