Archbishop of Canterbury calls residential school abuses `the stuff of nightmares'

During a weekend in Saskatchewan spent listening to stories from survivors of Canada's residential schools, the Archbishop of Canterbury warned in a church service that rules and structures must not become more important than people.

“That is the tragedy of residential schools, the mystery of no one objecting, the mystery of no one saying, `This is outrageous,' the addiction to process over people,” Rev. Justin Welby told congregants at St. Albans Cathedral in Prince Albert.

Welby, the spiritual head of the Church of England, said the stories of abuse and neglect at the residential schools were “the stuff of nightmare.”

Welby has said that a significant purpose of his visit to Canada from April 29 to May 3 is to repent and atone for the harm the Church of England has caused to Indigenous peoples.

He said during the service on Sunday that he has been “overwhelmed by the faithfulness to God” that he's heard in the testimonies from survivors, and noted there are two parties in forgiveness.

“We cannot put a burden, or the obligation, on those who suffered and say it's your job to forgive. But I will tell you from my own experience that being forgiven is often harder than forgiving,” Welby said.

“Our pride gets in the way and we blame the survivor and the victim, and not the perpetrator. We allow ourselves to make excuses to ourselves.”

The Anglican Church says it ran about three dozen residential schools in Canada between 1820 and 1969. In 1993, the Anglican Church of Canada apologized for operating residential schools.

On Saturday, Welby attended a ceremony held in a gymnasium on the James Smith Cree Nation in northern Saskatchewan, where he was presented with an eagle feather by the vice-chief of the province's Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, David Pratt.

Welby, in return, presented Pratt with a replica of the statue “Reconciliation” which is at St. Michael's Cathedral in Coventry. The original statue was conceived following the Second World War, during which the 14th Century cathedral, whose remains are next to St. Michael's, was destroyed by German bombing.

Grand Chief Brian Hardlotte of the Prince Albert Grand Council was educated at the Anglican-run All Saints residential school in Prince Albert. He welcomed Welby's apology but stressed there remains much work to be done — notably following the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's calls to action, and also providing support for those harmed by residential schools.