Vatican mum on apology after Harper meets Pope
Issue raised indirectly through letter on residential-school report
VATICAN CITY — At a Thursday meeting with Pope Francis, Prime Minister Stephen Harper only indirectly raised the issue of an apology from the Roman Catholic Church in the residential schools scandal — angering those who had hoped for a more personal appeal.
Harper did draw the pontiff’s attention to a letter to the Vatican from Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt. It takes no stand on what the Pope should do, but does note that Harper had already issued an apology in 2008 to former residential school students — to the day seven years ago, in fact — and that the TRC released an executive summary of its final report last week, with 94 recommendations, including one related to “the Churches which operated residential schools in Canada.”
But in a news release issued after Harper had his private papal audience, the Vatican did not mention the Valcourt letter or the possibility of an apology.
The ostensible reason for Harper’s meeting with the Pope on Thursday was to invite him to Canada for the 150th anniversary of Confederation in 2017. There was no indication from the Vatican whether the Pope would take the prime minister up on his offer.
The Holy Father granted Harper “an unusually short” audience of only 10 minutes, “with an interpreter present,” the pool reporter said.
That stands in contrast to the 50 minutes Pope Francis granted a day earlier to Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, a nation of about 770,000 Catholics (versus Canada’s 12.7 million).
The prime minister and his wife, Laureen, were greeted by the Gentlemen of His Holiness who ushered them inside a part of the Vatican that is near the Sistine Chapel.
The prime minister’s entourage included Defence Minister Jason Kenney, Associate Defence Minister Julian Fantino and three other Conservative MPs.
Canada gave the pontiff a hand-carved maple leaf of rare stone taken from the quarry where the Parliament Hill stones originate. The Pope gave the Canadians medallions of his pontificate.
As Harper has at every stop on his six-day rush through Ukraine, Germany, Poland and Italy, he raised the issue with Pope Francis of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
“Prime Minister Harper addressed the situation in Ukraine and his deep concern with Vladimir Putin’s aggression, occupation and violence in Ukraine (and) the plight of religious minorities at the hands of (ISIL) barbarism,” the prime minister’s office reported of his remarks to the Pope.
Adopting a softer line, the Vatican said in a statement there had been “reference to Europe and the Middle East and the prospect for peace in that region, as well as the fight against terrorism and environmental issues.”
During Harper’s six days in Europe, which ended with a meet-and-greet with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, he took only six questions from Canadian journalists travelling with him.
Most of the prime minister’s activities involved staged photo opportunities. Many of the images might be used during the coming election campaign.
The visits to Ukraine and Poland were as much about assuring the more than two million Canadian voters of Ukrainian and Polish descent that the government was deeply concerned about the danger posed to their ancestral countries by Putin’s bellicose behaviour and, in concert with its allies, was taking action to counter that.
Ukraine also figured in the prime minister’s discussions with Renzi. The Harper government has been worried that Italy, among others, may backslide on commitments to maintain Western sanctions against Russia.
Doubts about Italy’s commitment were raised after Renzi had what was by all accounts a pleasant, Ukrainefree conversation Wednesday with Putin, who was visiting Italy.
Harper, as he has done frequently in the past, used the Canadian military as a prop as he hopscotched from Kyiv to the Bavarian Alps, Warsaw, the Baltic Sea and Rome.
In this regard, the golden moment of the trip was on HMCS Fredericton as it sailed in the Baltic Sea near the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. As the cameras rolled, the prime minister peered through binoculars and could see Russian warships shadowing the Fredericton.