30 Jan 2011

Canadian Indian residential school hearings identify thousands of abusers including some students who were also abused

CBC News - Canada December 20, 2010

Residential students also abusers: hearings



Allegations are surfacing at compensation hearings that students abused fellow pupils at Canada's now-closed residential schools for aboriginal people, CBC News has learned.

The allegations are being made as federal adjudicators work out a compensation package at hearings under the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement, the largest class-action settlement in Canadian history.

Nearly 6,000 people have been identified as abusers at the hearings, according to the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs. Most of those named are former teachers and clergy, many of whom have died, but 20 to 25 per cent of those accused were students.

The government is hiring private investigators to track them down and they'll get a chance to tell their side of the story. But no cases will be referred for criminal investigation.

Former student Mary, who agreed to be interviewed on the condition her real name not be used, said she named her student abusers to her lawyer before her hearing in June, adding that one of them still lives near her.

Mary said she blocked out her memories of sex and drug abuse at the age of 12 or 13 by other students at the Port Alberni Residential School in British Columbia until a year ago when she started therapy and had to prepare for her hearing.

Put in danger


She said she didn't realize her abusers would be notified about her accusations until she bumped into one of them on the street.

"His whole attitude towards me changed — aggressive and scary. …I don't think the government realized how much more danger they're putting us in."

In a separate case, Charlie Thompson had to defend himself on Dec. 9 against a woman's accusations of sexual assault while the two were at the Port Alberni Residential School.

"When I got the call, it was like I was just left hanging, and I'm just thankful I'm OK," said Thompson, who was sexually abused by staff at the Port Alberni school.

"I'm strong enough to have this kind of call, but I'm thinking about those people who are not OK who received the call."

Thompson, who said it was a case of mistaken identity, said he took the opportunity to defend himself at his accuser's hearing.

"I didn't feel good. I felt like a criminal …. But I told my truth. That's all I can do."

Creating friction

Jennifer Wood, who works with residential school survivors, said the whole process of identifying former students as abusers is creating a lot of friction in the aboriginal community.

"How do you cope? How do you get through this?" she said.

The Department of Indian and Northern Affairs said contacting alleged abusers is a better alternative than going through the criminal courts.

Director general Luc Dumont said it's only fair for people to be told they've been accused of abuse.

"The adjudicator[s] have to ask questions that will unfold how the abuse took place … and make an assessment. It's not an easy task."

Dumont said this process was set out and agreed upon in the settlement agreement. He said there may be remote communities with fewer resources, but a toll-free crisis line is open 24/7 and people will be referred to the help they need.

Survivors like Thompson said they're living through the trauma all over again.

"There doesn't seem to be anybody that I know of who's doing anything to make it better for the former students of residential schools," said Thompson. "Nobody seems to understand that those institutions created a whole lot of dysfunction."

A decision in Thompson's case is expected next April.

Thousands of the former students say they endured sexual, physical and psychological abuse while attending the schools, which were run by churches and funded by the federal government from the 1870s until the mid-1970s.

As of May 31, more than 5,800 hearings have been held and 5,074 claimants have been compensated for a total of $615 million, the government said.


This article was found at:

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/12/20/residential-schools-abuse.html


RELATED ARTICLES:

Canadian Indian residential schools designed to assimilate natives traumatized individuals and generations



Survivors of Indian residential schools need to tell their stories to restore self-worth after trauma of abuse 


A brief history of Canadian residential schools designed to indoctrinate and assimilate aboriginal children


Canadian Truth Commission investigates fate of thousands of aboriginal children who died in mysterious circumstances

Canadian residential school Truth Commission begins to address over a century of child abuse, thousands of children still missing

‘Apology? What apology?' Church’s attempt at reconciliation not enough, says counsellor

Church-run Canadian residential schools denied human rights to all aboriginal children in their custody

'This Is How They Tortured Me' [book review]

Mothers of a Native Hell

Pope expresses 'sorrow' for abuse at residential schools - but doesn't apologize

When will church learn lessons about abuse scandals?


The following comment section continues the comments posted on the following two posts in this archive:   

Edmonton mural celebrates Catholic bishop's role in the horrific abuse of aboriginal children in residential schools



13 comments:

  1. Parliament window to mark residential schools

    CBC News October 27, 2011

    A painful chapter of Canada's history will soon be on display over the door MPs use to enter the House of Commons every day.

    Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan announced Thursday the legacy of Canada's Indian residential schools program will be permanently etched on Parliament Hill in stained glass.

    An aboriginal artist will be commissioned to design a new centre panel for the window over the members' entrance to the House of Commons foyer in Centre Block.

    "The art work will honour the First Nation, Inuit and Méis children who attended Indian residential schools and the families and the communities who were impacted by its legacy," Duncan said, looking straight at the external window where the art will be installed.

    A panel of art experts will choose an artist to design the window. The panel has not yet been convened, and Duncan couldn't estimate a total cost, but the minister said the government planned to have the art installed in 2012.

    "We’re not making this a long term project. We want to get it done," Duncan said.

    'Gesture of reconciliation'
    The minister said the window is intended to "encourage all Parliamentarians and visitors for generations to come to learn about the history of the Indian residential schools and Canada’s reconciliation efforts."

    Duncan said he's consulted with aboriginal leaders about the window as an "important gesture of reconciliation" and "they get it."

    On June 11, 2008 the federal government made an official apology for the residential school program in the House of Commons. It was the highlight of a series of commemorations and reconciliation efforts that continue through the work of the federally-funded Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

    Duncan said Thursday that "the history of residential schools tells of an education policy gone wrong."

    http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2011/10/27/pol-residential-schools-window.html

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  2. RCMP to report on residential schools role

    The Canadian Press October 28, 2011

    The RCMP is planning to release a report that documents the force's involvement in Canada's infamous native residential school system.

    The Mounties issued a statement today saying the research report will be presented Saturday to the federal Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which is holding hearings in Halifax.

    The statement says the report covers more than 100 years and represents the first complete assessment of the RCMP's involvement in the Indian Residential School system.

    About 150,000 aboriginal children attended residential schools, some of them forcibly taken from their homes by the RCMP under legislation that made attendance mandatory.

    In May 2004, the RCMP's commissioner publicly apologized to Canada's Aboriginal Peoples, saying he was sorry for those who "suffered tragedies at residential schools."

    The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has a five-year mandate to document the history of residential schools, inspire reconciliation and produce a report by 2014.

    http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/10/28/residential-school-rcmp.html

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  3. RCMP 'herded' native kids to residential schools

    CBC News October 29, 2011

    Former aboriginal students who say the RCMP herded them off to residential schools are expressing a sense of validation following the release of a report into the Mounties' role in the notorious school system. However, not all the survivors believe the report will help with their healing. The RCMP released the report Saturday at a Halifax session of the national Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which is looking into how 150,000 aboriginal children were taken from their families over more than a century.

    The 463-page report found that the RCMP had a major involvement in bringing students from First Nation communities to the residential schools. Various data sources were collected over a 30-month period between April 2007 and September 2009 to answer questions about the RCMP's relationship with schools, students, federal agencies and departments.

    ...
    The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has been holding public sessions in Halifax since Wednesday. The report says that at times, RCMP withheld information from parents of residential school students about what was happening with their children, and at times they acted like truant officers to schools. "Students saw themselves herded like cattle and brought into RCMP cars and taken into school. What they say is that these stories have come out throughout the years, but what this does today is validate those stories and show that they were true," CBC reporter Michael Dick said in Halifax.

    RCMP stress in the report that the force did not know what was going on behind the schools' walls, where abuse was rampant, and that they were trying to act in the best interest with the information they knew at the time. The Mounties stressed that the abuse in residential schools happened all over the country. Approximately 150,000 aboriginal children were forced to attend residential schools. The Mounties were summoned to forcibly take the children to the schools if their families resisted sending them away.

    The truth and reconciliation commissioners have been listening to powerful testimony from people who suffered physical, sexual and emotional abuse at the schools and who were forced to give up their native language and customs. Manitoba Justice Murray Sinclair chairs the commission, established as part of a landmark $4-billion agreement reached in 2007 with survivors who had filed a class-action lawsuit against the federal government and the churches that ran the schools.

    "It is for the purpose of establishing a national memory around this so that future generations of people will be able to understand not only what happened but why it happened. And that will ensure that it does not happen again," Sinclair said. The commission has a five-year mandate to document what happened to aboriginal children at residential schools and produce a report by 2014.

    The churches that operated the schools started apologizing in 1986 — and in 2004, the RCMP's commissioner publicly apologized for what happened. Prime Minister Stephen Harper offered a public apology in 2008.

    read the full article at:

    http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/10/29/truth-reconciliation-rcmp-report.html

    read the RCMP report at:

    http://www.cbc.ca/news/pdf/RCMP-role-in-residential-school-system-Oct-4-2011.pdf

    ReplyDelete
  4. RCMP mostly unaware of abuse at residential schools: report

    by MICHAEL TUTTON, Canadian Press October 29, 2011

    RCMP officers usually weren't aware of the need to investigate abuse in Canada's infamous native residential school system because aboriginal families were reluctant to tell them what was occurring behind closed doors, says a report by the police force. Deputy Commissioner Steve Graham presented the research report on Saturday to the federal Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which was holding its final day of Atlantic region hearings in Halifax.

    The 457-page report written by Marcel Eugene-LeBeuf said the police acted on behalf of the federal government to track down children who had run away from the schools and to tell parents they had to send their children to the schools. However, the researchers said that police generally weren't aware of abuse, which is defined in the report as “improper physical or sexual behaviour and actions that contributed to the loss of cultural roots.”

    “Children would rarely denounce the abuse they suffered, and the school system prevented outsiders from knowing about the abuse that occurred. Discipline was kept strictly internal to the school system and was not associated to the police,” the authors said in the report's summary. “The report shows that Indian residential schools were essentially a closed system between the Department of Indian Affairs, the churches and school administrator. The problems within the schools did not attract police attention or intervention because they were mostly dealt with internally or were unknown to the police.”

    The report covers more than 100 years and represents the first complete assessment of the RCMP's involvement in the Indian Residential School system. Government-funded, church-run residential schools operated from the 1870s until the final closure of a school outside Regina in 1996. The researchers conducted 279 interviews and travelled to 66 communities between 2007 and 2009 to examine the police role in supporting the system.

    After Mr. Graham completed his brief presentation to the commission, he gently placed the study into the bentwood box, where expressions of reconciliation are placed by those participating in the panels. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has a five-year mandate to document the history of residential schools, inspire reconciliation and produce a report by 2014.

    The report said a lack of trust of the police by natives was the biggest barrier to investigations being carried out up until the 1990s. “Without public or police knowledge of wrong-doing, there would be no investigation and no charges laid against abusers. This is supported by the relatively small number of files in RCMP records on these matters for the period covered by the research project,” said the report.

    The appendices of the report summarizes 60 investigations between 1957 and 2005 from B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, the three territories and Manitoba. It says there were 619 victims who appeared before the courts and over 40 perpetrators identified with charges being laid for crimes ranging from indecent assault to sexual interference and assault causing bodily harm.

    In May 2004, then RCMP commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli publicly apologized to Canada's Aboriginal Peoples. “To those of you who suffered tragedies at residential schools, we are very sorry for your experience,” he said at the time.

    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/rcmp-mostly-unaware-of-abuse-at-residential-schools-report/article2218750/

    ReplyDelete
  5. A FEW HUNDRED MORE RECENT ARTICLES HAVE BEEN POSTED ON THE FOLLOWING TWO PAGES:

    Canadian Indian residential schools designed to assimilate natives traumatized individuals and generations
    https://religiouschildabuse.blogspot.com/2011/02/canadian-indian-residential-schools.html

    Edmonton mural celebrates Catholic bishop's role in the horrific abuse of aboriginal children in residential schools
    https://religiouschildabuse.blogspot.com/2011/03/edmonton-mural-celebrates-catholic.html


    ReplyDelete
  6. Study shows empirical link between residential schools and Indigenous youth in care

    by Michelle Ghoussoub, CBC July 04, 2019

    New research conducted at the University of British Columbia is shedding light on the relationship between residential schools and the modern day child welfare system.

    Brittany Barker, a postdoctoral fellow with the BC Centre on Substance Use, said the impact of intergenerational trauma from the residential school systems is well understood among Indigenous communities, and the overrepresentation of Indigenous youth in care has been previously documented.

    But Barker, who completed her doctoral work at UBC in April, said her research shows for the first time an empirical association between having been in the residential school system, and subsequent generations being at higher risk for being in the child welfare system.

    "The crux of the argument is that the family exposure to the residential school system is driving the overrepresentation of Indigenous kids in care," she said.

    Barker, who had previously investigated the child welfare system, said the findings are "probably the most powerful, important study I've ever done."

    The findings have been published in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

    Barker's data was collected between 2011 and 2016 from 675 people in Vancouver under the age of 35 who use drugs, around 40 per cent of whom self-identified as Indigenous.

    The research found that two thirds of participants who self-identified as being Indigenous had at least a grandparent and/or a parent that attended a residential school.

    Those who had a parent or both a parent and a grandparent who had been in a residential school had more than two times the odds of having been personally placed into care compared to Indigenous participants who had no immediate family exposure to the residential school system.

    For more than 100 years, First Nations, Inuit and Métis children were taken from their families to attend residential schools, most of which were run by churches and funded by the federal government. There were more than 130 residential schools in operation between the 1870s and 1996.

    continued below

    ReplyDelete
  7. Barker also conducted a secondary analysis which compared Indigenous participants who reported no immediate family exposure to residential schools to the non-Indigenous part of the cohort, and found there was no significant difference difference in the likelihood of being in the child welfare system.

    "Being [of] Indigenous ancestry had over two times the odds of having been in care. But it was actually residential school exposure, that family exposure to the residential school system, that was driving that difference between groups," she said.

    "You would expect that there would be a significant difference between Indigenous young people and non-Indigenous young people. […] If you can account for family exposure to the residential school system, which we did in this paper, then there's no longer that difference."

    Barker said more research needs to be done across different areas in Canada, and that the research should be replicated with a high sample size of Indigenous youth. But she said the numbers could actually be higher, as some Indigenous people don't know they had family members in residential schools, because of the stigma associated with the institutions.

    Barker said she believes that in order to address intergenerational trauma, more resources need to be given to support potentially vulnerable parents.

    "If you look at the number one reason that Indigenous youth are taken into the child welfare system, it's for charges of neglect. And if you break down neglect, it's parental substance abuse, it's exposure to intimate partner violence, it's housing instability, it's food insecurity, it's poverty – a lot of it is markers of poverty and then the remnants of the trauma of the residential school system," she said.

    In 2008, the federal government formally apologized for the residential school system and other policies of assimilation. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission's (TRC) final report said the residential school system amounted to "cultural genocide" against Indigenous people in Canada.

    https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/study-links-trauma-from-residential-schools-to-overrepresentation-of-indigenous-youth-in-care-1.5199421

    ReplyDelete
  8. Residential school survivors society calls for action following discovery of children's remains

    Courtney Dickson · CBC News May 28, 2021

    The Indian Residential School Survivors Society (IRSSS) is calling on the federal government and the Roman Catholic Church to take action following the discovery of the remains of 215 children buried on the Kamloops Indian Residential School grounds.

    On Thursday, the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation said preliminary findings from a ground-penetrating radar survey uncovered the remains. Since then, federal government officials and leaders have taken to social media and sent out news releases offering support.

    The school was run by the Catholic Church from 1890 to 1969 when the federal government took over administration to operate it as a residence for a day school until it closed in 1978.

    Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted Friday that this discovery is "a painful reminder of that dark and shameful chapter of our country's history" and offered thoughts and support.

    Speaking for the Archdiocese of Vancouver, Archbishop J. Michael Miller told CBC News in an emailed statement that the findings fill him with "deep sadness."

    "The pain that such news causes reminds us of our ongoing need to bring to light every tragic situation that occurred in residential schools run by the Church. The passage of time does not erase the suffering that touches the Indigenous communities affected, and we pledge to do whatever we can to heal that suffering."
    'Prayers only go so far'

    Angela White, executive director for the IRSSS, said that both the church and the federal government need to take action.

    "Reconciliation does not mean anything if there is no action to those words," she said.

    "Well-wishes and prayers only go so far. If we are going to actually create positive strides forward there needs to be that ability to continue the work, like the Indian Residential School Survivors Society does, in a meaningful way."

    The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) report from 2015 calls for the federal government to provide sustainable funding for existing and new Indigenous healing centres to address the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual harms caused by residential schools.

    Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc Kukpi7 (Chief) Rosanne Casimir has also expressed a desire for federal government accountability.

    "It's all well and good for the federal government to make gestures of goodwill and support regarding the tragedy," Casimir said during an interview on CBC's Daybreak Kamloops.

    "There is an important ownership and accountability to both Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc and all communities and families that are affected. And that needs to happen and take place."

    continued below

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  9. Calls for Pope to respond

    In a media release, IRSSS co-chair Rick Alec, a member of the Ts'kw'aylaxw First Nation, called for action specifically from the Pope.

    "My Creator is asking their God why disciples would do this to us," he said. "The Pope needs to answer this question. There is no more denying it. Now there is physical evidence from these unmarked graves."

    The TRC's report also called upon the Pope to issue an apology to survivors, their families and communities for the church's role in the abuse of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis children in Catholic-run residential schools.

    In 2018, a letter from the president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops said Pope Francis can't personally apologize for residential schools.

    The IRSSS's White said that if the Catholic Church apologized today for its involvement in residential schools across Canada, it would be meaningless, as they've had many years to make those apologies.

    She said acknowledging the history and the reality of residential schools validates what survivors have been sharing for years and is an important part of the healing process.
    Support available

    Support is available for anyone affected by the lingering effects of residential schools, and those who are triggered by the latest reports. The IRSSS can be contacted toll-free at 1-800-721-0066.

    A national Indian Residential School Crisis Line has been set up to provide support for former students and those affected. Access emotional and crisis referral services by calling the 24-hour national crisis line: 1-866-925-4419.

    Within B.C., the KUU-US Crisis Line Society provides a First Nations and Indigenous-specific crisis line available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It's toll-free and can be reached at 1-800-588-8717 or online at kuu-uscrisisline.com.

    https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/indian-residential-school-survivors-society-calls-for-action-1.6045448

    ReplyDelete
  10. The Vatican holds billions in assets. Residential school survivors say the Pope should step up on compensation

    Canadian delegation preparing for final meeting with Pope Francis Friday

    by Jason Warick · CBC News · Mar 31, 2022

    As a Canadian delegation prepares for its final meeting with Pope Francis in the Vatican Friday, a growing chorus in Canada is hoping Francis commits to immediately remedying the Roman Catholic Church's broken compensation promises to residential school survivors.

    Canadian bishops announced a renewed fundraising effort last fall — $30 million over five years — and say work is well underway.

    But critics are skeptical. Even if that money can be raised, they say it's wrong to make the dwindling number of elderly survivors wait that long. They say that if Canadian bishops won't do it immediately, the Vatican should.

    Although all the full specifics of the Vatican's holdings are unknown, a tabulation of known assets puts them in the tens or possibly hundreds of billions of dollars.

    Survivors say the compensation money isn't for them — it's to fund addictions and mental health supports, job training, recreation, language preservation and other programs for their descendants suffering through intergenerational trauma.

    "It affected my children, my grandchildren. So many are lost," said survivor and mental health worker Audrey Eyahpaise of the Beardy's & Okemasis Cree Nation.

    The survivors say the Vatican is just as responsible as the local religious orders and dioceses.

    "This has been a struggle for many years. They've been patient. They keep hearing broken promises," said University of Saskatchewan Indigenous studies professor and Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation member Bonita Beatty.

    "It's a hierarchy. They report up to the Vatican. So yes, he [Pope Francis] is responsible for the various arms of his government. He can't just wash his hands of it."
    Billions in assets

    Francis's supporters say he has moved the church toward greater transparency, but a definitive dollar figure of the Roman Catholic Church's wealth remains unavailable.

    CBC News collected publicly available information to obtain a partial list of the church's assets. They include:

    The Vatican

    In 2020, the Vatican released a public statement pegging the total assets of its 70 governmental departments at approximately $5.5 billion Cdn, according to the Reuters news service. That includes its worldwide embassies and media holdings. It doesn't include St. Peter's Basilica, its museums and art works, or Vatican Bank holdings.

    Vatican Bank

    Various estimates cited by the Financial Times, CNN and other publications place the Vatican Bank's holdings at approximately $6 billion to $10 billion Cdn. It holds accounts for more than 1,000 individuals and church-affiliated entities.

    Art and architecture

    The Vatican has said it considers the work of Michelangelo, Raphael and others in its collection to be priceless, so assigned them a value of one Italian lira — less than one Canadian penny. But an article in New York Magazine stated "even a fraction of the works could likely fetch billions." This doesn't include the unknown quantity of Indigenous art and religious items housed at the Vatican.

    Investments

    Exact figures are unavailable, but media reports state the Vatican holds significant gold reserves, Italian stocks and other investments. Information disclosed at the recent criminal trial of one of the Vatican's cardinals revealed a $338-million Cdn purchase of former Harrod's auto showroom in London's wealthy Chelsea district, according to the Wall Street Journal.

    continued below

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  11. Land

    The Vatican released a statement last year stating it owns more than 5,000 properties worldwide, with the majority inside Italy, according to The Guardian.

    The wider Roman Catholic Church is the largest non-governmental landowner in the world, according to the University of Notre Dame's Fitzgerald Institute for Real Estate. Its holdings total roughly 177 million acres, an area slightly larger than the province of Saskatchewan.

    David Murphy, director for the Fitzgerald Institute's "church properties initiative," agreed land is the Roman Catholic Church's most valuable asset, but he said the exact — or even an approximate — dollar value remains a mystery.

    "It's super murky. There's really no good answer," Murphy said in an interview.

    "I've been on the job seven months and I'm still trying to get a handle on it."

    At an average price of $900 Cdn per acre — the cost of the cheapest vacant farmland in Saskatchewan — the total would reach nearly $160 billion. Many churches, cathedrals and Vatican embassies sit on much more valuable urban land in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and other centres.

    The church could also have even more land not listed. That's because religious orders such as Oblates or Jesuits are not required to disclose their holdings to local bishops, he said.
    Bishops admit to 'shortcomings'

    Some experts say the Catholic Church still owes Canadian survivors more than $60 million after signing the 2006 Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement.

    The Canadian Council of Catholic Bishops admits to the "shortcomings" in those efforts, but disputes this figure, saying they fulfilled all legal obligations.

    Legally, the case was closed after a Saskatchewan judge approved a controversial buyout proposal several years ago and the federal government declined to appeal the decision.

    Following the discovery of unmarked graves across Canada last summer, as well as new revelations about the Catholic Church's failed compensation efforts, the CCCB announced a new five-year, $30-million fundraising campaign.

    Jonanthan Lesarge of the CCCB said in a statement that dioceses in Saskatchewan, Vancouver and other centres are already fundraising, and the national campaign has named an Indigenous group of directors and taken other action. CBC News asked last week for a national dollar amount raised so far, but none was available.

    Mayo Moran, provost and vice-chancellor of Trinity College at the University of Toronto, spent 15 years chairing the compensation committee for residential school survivors.

    She said church officials need to immediately remedy "the litany of promises that have been made and not fulfilled." That includes compensation.

    Moran said it's extremely urgent, and that the Vatican should step up if Canadian officials won't act quickly.

    "I don't think there's any doubt that as a moral matter, the church as a whole — that is, the Vatican and the Pope as well — should be putting pressure on and stepping up."

    https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/vatican-assets-residential-school-compensation-1.6404280

    ReplyDelete
  12. Pope Francis apologizes to Indigenous delegates for 'deplorable' abuses at residential schools

    First Nations, Inuit and Métis conclude historic week of meetings

    by Olivia Stefanovich · CBC News · Apr 01, 2022

    WARNING: This story contains distressing details.

    Pope Francis has apologized for the conduct of some members of the Roman Catholic Church in Canada's residential school system, following a week of talks with First Nations, Inuit and Métis delegations.

    The delegates had gathered for a final and public audience with the Pope at the Vatican on Friday as Francis spoke of feeling "sorrow and shame" for the conduct of those who ran the schools.

    "I also feel shame ... sorrow and shame for the role that a number of Catholics, particularly those with educational responsibilities, have had in all these things that wounded you, and the abuses you suffered and the lack of respect shown for your identity, your culture and even your spiritual values," he said.

    "For the deplorable conduct of these members of the Catholic Church, I ask for God's forgiveness and I want to say to you with all my heart, I am very sorry. And I join my brothers, the Canadian bishops, in asking your pardon."

    Francis also said he hoped to visit Canada "in the days" around the church's Feast of St. Anne, which falls on July 26.

    Dene National Chief Gerald Antoine, one of the lead delegates, compared hearing the apology to the experience of walking through the snow and seeing fresh moose tracks.

    "That is the feeling that I have, because there is a possibility," he said moments after the apology.

    "Today is a day that we've been waiting for and certainly one that will be uplifted in our history."

    Read Pope Francis's full remarks, apology for abuses by some Catholic Church members in residential schools

    An apology from the Pope without actions means 'nothing': Manitoba residential school survivors

    Natan Obed, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, said survivors and their families will all have different perspectives on the apology.

    "Today we have a piece of the puzzle," he said. "We have a heartfelt expression from the church that was delivered by Pope Francis in an empathetic and caring way."

    The apology comes at the end of a week of private separate meetings between the First Nations, Inuit and Métis delegations and the Pope about the Roman Catholic Church's role in Canada's residential school system.

    The Inuit delegation had also been pushing for the church to intervene in the case of fugitive Oblate priest wanted in Canada for sex crimes, and the First Nation delegates also urged the Pope to revoke centuries-old papal decrees used to justify the seizure of Indigenous land in the Americas by colonial powers.

    Indigenous representatives have also been pushing the church to fulfil its compensation promises to residential school survivors and return Indigenous cultural artifacts.

    continued below

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  13. More than 150,000 Indigenous children were forced to attend residential schools between the 1880s and 1996, and more than 60 per cent of the schools were run by the Catholic Church.

    Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he looks forward to the Pope's visit. He called the apology a step forward "in acknowledging the truth of our past."

    "Today's apology will resurface strong emotions of hurt and trauma for many," he said in a media statement.

    "We cannot separate the legacy of the residential school system from the institutions that created, maintained, and operated it, including the Government of Canada and the Catholic Church."
    'Now the hard work starts' — former AFN chief

    Antoine said Indigenous leaders should take part in planning the Pope's visit.

    "We seek to hear his words. They also seek the words of apology at home," he said.

    Former chief of the Assembly of First Nations Phil Fontaine said the apology is not the end of "this long, tragic story about residential schools."

    "Now the hard work starts," he told The Current's Matt Galloway.

    The Truth and Reconciliation Commission — which from 2008 to 2015 examined the record of Canada's residential school system — called for a papal apology as part of its 94 calls to action. The commission also urged all religious and faith groups to repudiate concepts used to justify European sovereignty over Indigenous lands and people.

    Colleen Jacob, the former chief of Xaxli'p First Nation in British Columbia, wrote about her experience attending residential school in a letter to the Pope delivered during his private meeting this week with Assembly of First Nations delegates.

    Jacob said she can still remember vividly the bus picking her up for the first time in 1974, when she was just seven years old.

    She said she was dropped off and separated from her big brother.

    "It was a big shock to me because back home I used to follow him everywhere," Jacob said. "I would cry when he wouldn't take me."

    The Pope has issued other apologies in recent years. He travelled to Bolivia in 2015, where he asked for forgiveness for the church's crimes against Indigenous people during Latin America's colonial era. On a trip to Ireland in 2018, he offered a sweeping apology for the crimes of the Catholic Church in Ireland, saying church officials frequently failed to respond with compassion to the many abuses children and women suffered over the years.

    The Anglican, Presbyterian and United Churches have apologized already for their roles in Canada's residential school system.

    see multiple videos and photos at this link:
    https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/pope-francis-responds-indigenous-delegations-final-meeting-1.6404344

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