Why won’t the Pope apologize?

The 2015 Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, and its call to action No. 58, couldn’t be more explicit:

“We call upon the Pope to issue an apology to survivors, their families, and communities for the Roman Catholic Church’s role in the spiritual, cultural, emotional, physical and sexual abuse of First Nations, Inuit and Métis children in Catholic-run residential schools. We call for that apology… to occur within one year of the issuing of this report and to be delivered by the Pope in Canada.”

Six years later, that call has still not been heeded. Despite urgings from the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Indigenous leaders and members of the Catholic community, Pope Francis has acknowledged his “pain,” but stopped short of saying sorry.

The devastating discovery of the bodies of 215 Indigenous children buried near a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C. has ripped open wounds for residential school survivors and their families, triggering fresh waves of grief for the abuse, cruelty and terrible losses they suffered.

The Catholic Church ran approximately 60 per cent of residential schools in Canada.

On Monday, Indigenous-crown Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett joined the chorus of those calling on the Pope to apologize, when she responded to a question from Nunavut NDP MP Mumilaaq Qaqqaq in the House of Commons.

“The residential school survivors and those dealing with it need to hear the Pope apologize, and explicitly, for the Catholic Church’s role in this tragedy, to unlock the healing and support closure,” she said.

That Pope Francis has not apologized is perplexing, given his willingness to apologize for other wrongs committed by the church.

In recent days, representatives of Catholic dioceses in Atlantic Canada and elsewhere in the country have issued apologies of their own, clearly feeling it is the church’s responsibility to do so.

In a letter published in the Charlottetown Guardian on Wednesday, Father Brian Macdougall wrote, “As a Catholic, I felt shame to know that Catholics were involved in running this school. … On behalf of the Diocese of Charlottetown, I am truly sorry for the harms experienced by the Indigenous children who were forced to attend these schools, and their families and communities.”

In a June 6th tweet on the subject, Pope Francis wrote: “These difficult times are a strong call for everyone to turn away from the colonial model and walk side by side in dialogue, mutual respect and recognition of the rights and cultural values of all the daughters and sons of Canada.”

That’s not nearly enough.

The families and communities whose loved ones were forced to attend schools designed specifically to erase their cultural identity deserve more from the Catholic Church.

Nothing short of recognition through a formal and heartfelt apology will do.