Excitement, Then Ambivalence, For the Pope’s Visit to Quebec
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/30/world/canada/quebec-pope-francis.html
Pope’s Canada Visit Highlights Complex Relationship Between Catholicism and Indigenous Cultures
Pope apologizes for ‘catastrophic’ school policy in Canada
Pope Francis issued a historic apology on July 25th for the Catholic Church’s cooperation with Canada’s “catastrophic” policy of Indigenous residential schools, saying the forced assimilation of Native peoples into Christian society destroyed their cultures, severed families and marginalized generations.
“I am deeply sorry,” Francis said to applause from school survivors and Indigenous community members gathered at a former residential school south of Edmonton, Alberta. He called the school policy a “disastrous error” that was incompatible with the Gospel and said further investigation and healing is needed.
“I humbly beg forgiveness for the evil committed by so many Christians against the Indigenous peoples,” Francis said.
Francis’ words went beyond his earlier apology for the “deplorable” abuses committed by missionaries and instead took institutional responsibility for the church’s cooperation with Canada’s “catastrophic” assimilation policy, which the country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission said amounted to a “cultural genocide.” (Read the full article here
https://apnews.com/article/pope-francis-canada-apology-visit-137ad23719603e9d370257f257ec0163)
Posted by S. Jean Schafer