REFLECTING ON THE POPE’S VISIT

         What is happening in Canada?

 

It has been a year ago since the news broke that there were possible graves of children on the grounds of the former residential school in Kamloops, BC. People were shocked at the news.

 

What is now happening is that all the hurts and pain of the past two hundred and fifty years experienced by First Nations peoples could now be recognized. Now, the Canadian public is paying attention.  In the anger, frustration and confusion that is being expressed are all the exclusions that Canadian society, the governments, churches, educational and medical institutions have inflicted on aboriginal peoples. 

 

As part of this package are all the hurts of the suicides, drug addiction, unemployment and the fact that ‘our children are not doing as well as your children!’ Even though it is not put into words all this pain and rejection is flowing through the pain expressed toward the residential school system.  Anger against the residential schools is the safety value for First Nations peoples to make know their hurts and their angers.

 

A few years ago when news broke about  murdered and missing women along highway # 16 in northwestern British Columbia, did the larger Canadian public even care? 

 

Pope Francis is setting the tone by honest listening to the pain and issues of aboriginal peoples. In this ‘tone’ the stories and the pain of aboriginal people is being accepted and owned. The negative side is not being brushed aside, but rather it is being embraced in the listening.

 

This is more honest recognition of our history. The people of the Church were honest in their work to help the aboriginal population survive. They were totally unaware of how much they acted hand in hand with the colonial governmental and economic forces that forced the aboriginal population to be second class citizens. Separating children from their parents proved disastrous The Church people never acted alone; they always worked in very close cooperation with the Government of Canada.

 

After the Pope’s apology  (July 25, 2022) for the Church’s participation in the residential schools the observation is always added: but it will only be worthwhile if there are follow up efforts towards reconciliation. Our hope is that this apology will open the door to further bridge building and efforts toward reconciliation. 

 

This is an incredibly painful time. Admitting our mistakes is never enough. This apology must lead to action, to building new relationships between the First Nations of our country and all other parts of our country. 

 

In all of this we must be patient with people. Some will be much slower to embrace the full effects of the apology and the dark history of colonization in Canada. It Is just like the very last rainfall: some of the water takes much longer to soak into certain pieces of ground. So too, some of this will take much longer to be owned by some or many Canadians. 

 

The journey toward reconciliation is long and hard. May we have courage to walk this  hard path.