The government’s official reaction came as Francis arrived in Quebec City for meetings with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Governor General Mary Simon at her Quebec residence, the hilltop fortress Citadelle, on the second leg of Francis’ week-long visit to Canada. Criticisms of the government echo those of some survivors and include Francis’ omission of any reference to sexual abuse suffered by indigenous children in schools, as well as his initial reluctance to name the Catholic Church as the institution responsible. Francis said he was on a “repentant pilgrimage” to atone for the church’s role in the residential school system, in which generations of indigenous children were forcibly removed from their homes and forced to attend church-run boarding schools funded by the government to assimilate into Christian, Canadian society. The Canadian government said physical and sexual abuse was rampant in schools, with students beaten for speaking their mother tongue. Francis apologized on Monday for the “evil” of church staff working in schools and the “devastating” effect of the school system on indigenous families. In a speech to government officials on Wednesday, Francis apologized again and described the school system as “deplorable”. Francis noted that the school system was “promoted by the government authorities at the time” as part of a policy of assimilation and entitlement. However, responding to the criticism, he added that “local Catholic institutions were involved” in implementing this policy. Indigenous peoples have long demanded that the pope take responsibility not only for abuses committed by individual Catholic priests and religious orders, but also for the Catholic Church’s institutional support for assimilation policy and the 15th-century papal religious justification for European colonial expansion to spread Christianity. More than 150,000 Indigenous children in Canada were removed from their homes from the 19th century to the 1970s and placed in schools in an attempt to isolate them from the influence of their families and culture. Trudeau, a Catholic whose father, Pierre Trudeau, was prime minister while the last residential schools were operating, insisted the Catholic Church as an institution was to blame and needed to do more to atone. Speaking before Francis, he noted that Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission had in 2015 called for a papal apology to be issued on Canadian soil, but that Francis’ visit “would not have been possible without the courage and persistence” of First Nations survivors. Inuit and Metis who traveled to the Vatican last spring to press their case for an apology. “I’m sorry for the role the Roman Catholic Church, as an institution, played in the spiritual, cultural, emotional, physical and sexual abuse suffered by Indigenous children in church-run schools,” Trudeau said. The Canadian government has apologized for its role in the school legacy. Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper delivered an official apology for residential schools in Parliament in 2008, calling them a sad chapter in Canadian history and saying the policy of forced assimilation did much damage. As part of the settlement of a lawsuit involving the government, churches and the approximately 90,000 surviving students, Canada paid billions of dollars in reparations that went to indigenous communities. The Catholic Church, for its part, has paid more than $50 million and plans to add an additional $30 million over the next five years. Trudeau hinted that much more needed to be done by the church and that while Francis’ visit had a “huge impact” on survivors, it was only a first step. Aside from the content of his speech, Trudeau’s remarks broke customary protocol for papal trips. According to diplomatic protocol, only Simone had to address the pope in her capacity as representative head of state. Simon, an Inuk who is the first indigenous person to hold the largely ceremonial position of governor-general, did address Francis. But the Vatican said Trudeau’s office had asked that the prime minister be allowed to make some introductory remarks, a request that came days before Francis left Rome but after the pope’s itinerary had been finalized and printed. A senior Canadian government official said Trudeau usually makes remarks during visits by foreign leaders and it was important for him to address Canadians during Francis’ visit “especially given the importance of the issue.” However, it was added at the last minute. Before Francis arrived in Quebec City, Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Mark Miller said the “gaps” in Francis’ apology could not be ignored. Echoing criticism from some school survivors, Miller noted that Francis did not mention sexual abuse in his list of abuses suffered by Indigenous children in schools. Francis recorded on Monday instead physical, verbal, psychological and spiritual abuse. In addition, Miller noted that Francis on Monday spoke of “evil” committed by individual Christians “but not the Catholic Church as an institution.” Phil Fontaine, a survivor of school sexual abuse and former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, said Wednesday’s additional reference to “local Catholic institutions” went beyond Francis’ initial apology and was significant and as close as he could get to an apology. . for the whole Church in Canada. “It reflects the reality that the Catholic Church in Canada is not an institution. It consists of approximately 73 different legal entities, all of which were defendants in the lawsuits,” Fontaine said in a statement. Francis’ visit has caused mixed feelings among survivors and their relatives, as well as indigenous leaders and community members. Some hailed his apology as genuine and helpful in helping them heal. Others said it was just the first step in a long reconciliation process. Still others said he did not go far enough to take responsibility for institutional wrongs dating back centuries. Francis himself has acknowledged that wounds will take time to heal and that his visit and apology were only the first steps. On Wednesday, he and the local Canadian church pledged to “proceed on a fraternal and patient journey with all Canadians, according to truth and justice, working for healing and reconciliation and constantly inspired by hope.” “It is our desire to renew the relationship between the Church and Canada’s indigenous peoples, a relationship characterized both by a love that has borne extraordinary fruit and, tragically, by deep wounds that we are committed to understanding and healing,” he said. . But he did not list specific actions the Holy See was prepared to take. Trudeau also said the visit was a start and that reconciliation was everyone’s duty. “It is our responsibility to see our differences not as an obstacle, but as an opportunity to learn, to better understand each other and to take action.”
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