Ottawa, September 25, 2021 (AFP) – The Catholic Church of Canada has issued a formal apology to Indigenous peoples after the discovery in recent months of more than 1,000 graves near former residential schools, though activists are still awaiting a mea culpa of Pope Francis, considered crucial in the process of reconciliation.
“We, the Catholic bishops of Canada, express our deep remorse and offer an unequivocal apology,” said the press release published on Friday (24). The bishops also recognized “the suffering experienced in boarding schools” and the “serious abuses committed by certain members” of the Catholic community.
“Many religious communities and Catholic dioceses have served in this system which has led to the suppression of indigenous languages, culture and spirituality, without respecting the rich history, traditions and wisdom of indigenous peoples,” they said. admitted.
The declaration also recognizes the “historical and current trauma as well as the legacy of suffering and challenges that continue to this day for indigenous peoples.”
More than 1,000 anonymous graves were discovered this summer near former Catholic residential schools for Indigenous children, highlighting a dark page in Canadian history and its policy of forced assimilation of First Nations.
Some 150,000 Métis and Inuit children were forcibly recruited from 139 residential schools across the country, removing them from their families, languages and cultures.
Many have been the victims of ill-treatment and sexual abuse, and more than 4,000 have died, according to a commission of inquiry which called the practice a veritable “cultural genocide”.
In recent months, the macabre discoveries have sparked outrage and revolt in the country.
Symbolically, the Canadian flag on the Peace Tower in Ottawa is at half mast to pay tribute to Indigenous children after the remains of 215 children were discovered in late May in Kamloops, British Columbia (west).
– Healing and Reconciliation – The National Day of July 1 was marked by rallies across Canada, which brought thousands to the streets, most wearing orange T-shirts, a color associated with tributes to former residents indigenous.
At the same time, several churches were set on fire or destroyed.
In a gesture of appeasement, Ottawa appointed an Inuit woman Governor General of Canada – the first Native American to serve as Queen Elizabeth II’s representative.
However, many Indigenous groups are waiting for another symbolic gesture, this time from the Pope, whom they have repeatedly asked for an apology in person in Canada. Pope Francis will receive an indigenous delegation in December.
“We want an apology,” said Rosanne Casimir, chief of the Tk’emlups te Secwépemc First Nation in early June, after announcing the discovery of the graves in Kamloops.
“It will be stronger coming from the head of the Catholic Church and, from our point of view, I think they owe it to the Indians,” said David Chartrand, vice-president and spokesperson for the Rencontre nationale des Métis. , beginning of July. .
According to this Indigenous leader, apologies are essential to initiate a process of healing and reconciliation, but they will only be truly effective if they are offered by Pope Francis on Canadian soil and particularly in the west of the country, where most residential schools are located.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has made reconciliation with indigenous peoples one of his priorities, lamented the refusal of the Pope and the Catholic Church to recognize their “responsibility” and their “share of blame” in the management boarding schools.
The apology comes less than a week before the first National Day of Truth and Reconciliation for Missing Children and Residential School Survivors, scheduled for September 30.
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