Catholic bishops should listen to their members and do the right thing about residential schools

The leaders of the Catholic Church in Canada are dramatically failing to address the greatest crisis the Church has faced in living memory – its role in the residential school tragedy.

Instead of stepping up and taking full responsibility, with appropriate actions to take, church leaders find all kinds of reasons not do the right thing.

It’s not just about pointing fingers by non-Catholics, let alone “persecution”, as suggested by the president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops last week. Canadian Catholics themselves are shocked and many are deeply disappointed with their leadership.

An editorial in the Catholic Register calls the discovery of bodies in anonymous graves at the site of boarding schools run by Catholic organizations a “punch in the stomach”. And one petition signed by more than 5,900 Catholics, including priests, nuns and scholars, makes this blunt statement: Chapters in Canadian History.

There is also a lot of anger. A series of Catholic churches on indigenous lands have been reduced to ashes under very suspicious circumstances; another church just north of Edmonton burned down on Wednesday. This is completely wrong; if they are deliberately established, they are crimes that must be investigated and punished. At the same time, there is no doubt how much rage is mounting against the church.

It is true that the Catholic Church, which has run about 70 percent of residential schools in Canada, shares the responsibility with many others. After all, the Church, along with the Anglican, Presbyterian, and United Churches, operated these schools on behalf of the federal government – on behalf, in other words, of all Canadians.

But the other churches and the government have at least apologized, which the Catholic Church as a whole still has not done. Individual bishops and archbishops have expressed varying degrees of sadness and regret, but not the church as a whole.

The collective leadership of the Canadian Church, in the form of the Bishops’ Conference, has also not made it clear that it believes the Pope should step in and abide by one of the key recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. , namely that he should come personally to Canada. and apologize for the Catholic role in residential schools.

The bishops apparently do not think it is up to them to exert such pressure on Pope Francis. But the more they worry more about the hierarchical structures of the Church than about ensuring that justice is done, the worse it will be for the Canadian Church.

This week, it was confirmed that a delegation of Indigenous Canadians, including leaders of First Nations, Inuit and Métis organizations, will meet with the Pope at the Vatican in December. This sets the stage for the Pope to issue a formal apology, and we should all hope that he will step up his efforts.

If a pope is in a good position to do it, it is Francis. He has previously issued a blanket apology for the way Catholics have treated Indigenous peoples across the Americas, and he has proven himself as a compassionate leader on a wide range of issues. He must surely be able to see her way of healing wounds.

The role of the Canadian Church goes beyond apologies. Identifying and honoring these burial sites is a key part of addressing the tragedy of the deaths at residential schools and the anonymous graves where many small bodies lie.

Some Catholic organizations have not shared all of their historical documents with indigenous groups and others seeking to identify the dead and where they lie. It has been argued that Catholic orders are independent and do not necessarily take orders from a central body, but bishops should do their utmost to make all existing documents available.

There is also money. In 2006, the government and religious groups that ran the residential schools agreed to a settlement for the damage suffered by residential school survivors. The Catholic “entities” that operated most of the schools agreed, among other things, to donate $ 25 million for healing and reconciliation programs, using their “best efforts” to raise funds.

Yet their best efforts resulted in just $ 3.7 million, or about one-seventh of that amount. The federal government urged Catholic groups to do more, but they went to court and successfully defended their record.

Meanwhile, as some residential school survivors have noted, The Catholics of Saskatoon were able to raise $ 25.8 million for a magnificent new cathedral that opened in 2012. The obvious conclusion: the money could be found if it was something the church genuinely cared about.

All Canadians, including their governments and many other organizations, are finally confronted with their role in the residential school system and the legacy that continues to this day.

The Catholic Church, given its disproportionate role in the system, has a special responsibility. Its leaders must listen to their own limbs and their own conscience, and do what is right.