The Pope’s visit is always news to talk about. The Vatican has finally shared the details of Pope Francis’s much-anticipated visit to Canada. The Pope will be visiting during the final week of July, from the 24th through the 30th. His week-long visit will see him travel to the cities of Québec, Edmonton, and Iqaluit.
Roman Catholics are the single largest religious group in Canada. With around 40% of the population identifying as Catholic, many Canadians are sure to be anticipating Francis’s visit. Still, a growing number of Canadians are identifying as less religious. For more secular Canadians, the Pope’s upcoming visit is attracting attention for other reasons.
Catholicism and Canada’s Indigenous Community
The Pope’s visit comes amidst an ongoing conversation about Canada’s history of oppression against its indigenous population. The latter portion of 2021 saw a renewed focus on the country’s decades-long residential school program.
Canada was forced to reckon with its legacy of forced relocation, family disruption, and rampant abuse when geologists uncovered several mass graves where residential schools once stood. These findings were a painful reminder of the atrocities levied against indigenous people in Canada and prompted a national outcry.
While Indian residential schools were commissioned by the Canadian government, officials typically looked toward religious bodies to manage them. While various Christian denominations operated these schools, Canada’s large Catholic population meant that residential schools were disproportionately run by the Catholic Church. As such, indigenous activists in Canada have long sought an official apology from the Vatican.
While an official apology has yet to be given, Pope Francis’s upcoming trip may signal that a change is soon to come.
The Pope’s Promise
Prompted by the discovery of the mass graves, a delegation of indigenous Canadians visited Vatican City in the spring of this year. There, the delegates met with the Pope and other clergy members to express the ways in which the Catholic Church had harmed indigenous Canadians.
On this day, Pope Francis made history by making a formal apology to indigenous Canadians for the Church’s role in the residential school program. Known for his progressive social stances compared to his predecessors, Pope Francis’s apology does not necessarily reflect the views of the Catholic Church itself.
While a formal apology by the Church was not made, it was here that the Pope vowed to visit Canada in order to meet with more activists and community leaders. Pope Francis is expected to apologize once more, although it remains to be seen whether or not this will be endorsed by the Vatican.
The Pope’s Itinerary
While details are still emerging, Canada’s indigenous community will be the focal point of his upcoming visit. During his stay, he will be visiting cities and communities with strong populations of indigenous people. During this time, he will make space for survivors and their families to tell their stories. Additionally, the Pope will be visiting some of the sites where residential schools once stood.
Francis’s visit to Edmonton is likely the most crucial part of his Canadian tour. Edmonton is the capital of Alberta, which is home to Canada’s second-largest population of indigenous peoples. In a stark reminder of the country’s past, Alberta was also once home to more than two dozen residential schools.
Local activists and leaders have communicated that an apology on Canadian soil would mean very much to them. Likewise, local leaders in the Catholic Church are also looking forward to an open dialogue that will bring about healing, understanding, and forgiveness.
As Canada continues to navigate its religious identity in a changing world, the Pope’s upcoming visit is likely to shape our understanding of the role of religion in the years to come.
After months of anticipation, Pope Francis’s visit to Canada was made in late July. In response to growing pressure to apologize for the Catholic Church’s role in the Canadian residential school system, the 85-year-old religious figure toured Edmonton, Quebec, and Iqaluit to meet with government officials and indigenous community leaders.
Accompanied by two Canadian Cardinals, Francis’s trip marks the most public acknowledgment of the Church’s wrongdoing in regards to the residential school system to date. The past year has put the Vatican under renewed scrutiny for its participation, prompted by the grim discovery of several mass graves where these schools once stood. While there is a sense that the Pope’s visit is a step in the right direction, some believe that his visit and apology do not go far enough.
Renewed Focus on Residential Schools
The Indian residential school system is a shameful part of Canadian history. The program provided government money to build and operate boarding schools to forcibly assimilate indigenous children into Canadian society. Enrollment in these schools was mandatory for indigenous children from the 1890s through the 1940s, and such schools continued to operate until the last one was closed in 1997.
Under this program, children were forcibly separated from their families, deprived of their culture, and subjected to numerous abuses. Tragically, these facilities were often rampant with disease. The poor sanitary conditions led to the deaths of thousands of children over the years. While this was known, this dark chapter had largely been buried until mass graves were uncovered in late 2021.
Increased scrutiny has put the Vatican under fire. As part of the Indian residential school system, the Canadian government disbursed funds to religious organizations to administer the program. With Catholicism having a strong presence in Canada, Indian residential schools were disproportionately under the jurisdiction of Catholic parishes.
Francis’s Visit vs. The Vatican
The resulting media attention that followed the discovery of the mass graves proved too strong to ignore. Indigenous leaders demanded a public apology from the Vatican, and ultimately arranged an audience with the Pope himself in Vatican City to air their grievances.
During the meeting, Francis grabbed headlines by extending a personal apology to the delegation of indigenous leaders. While his personal acknowledgement of the Church’s wrongdoing was applauded, it did not equate to an official apology from the Vatican itself.
The distinction between the Pope and Vatican’s respective positions was met with criticism by activists, and while his recent tour of Canada featured further expressions of sorrow, many activists feel more needs to be done.
Many activists felt that Francis’s apology failed to be specific about the scope and nature of the abuses suffered by indigenous children. Additionally, some argued that his apology put too much focus on individuals and not enough focus on the Church as an institution.
Interestingly enough, the Canadian government seems to echo this sentiment. Canada already issued a public apology in 2008 for its role in the atrocities, and now Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called for the Catholic Church itself to acknowledge its participation.
What We Can Learn Francis’s Visit
The atrocities committed during Canada’s residential school program are bigger than individuals. They are the culmination of broader beliefs and incentives, put forth by large institutions.
While it is true that individuals bear responsibility, individual accountability is not enough to make amends. Institutional acknowledgement and accountability are necessary because they require a reexamination of beliefs and practices. In order to truly atone and build a better future, powerful institutions must be reformed and rid themselves of the beliefs that underscored their wrongdoing.
Pope Francis has taken steps in the right direction, but the world waits for more action.
In May of 2021, the world was met with a shocking discovery. Anthropologists working in Kamloops, British Columbia, detected anomalies in the ground via radar scans. Upon examination, experts concluded that around 200 unmarked graves lay beneath the surface. The months that followed would yield similar grim findings and cast new light on a tragic part of Canada’s history.
Each of the gravesites was uncovered where a Canadian Indian Residential School once stood. Canada’s Indian Residential School System was a program of forced re-education mandated by the government and administered by various Christian churches. The program was characterized by the forced separation of Indigenous families, rampant physical abuse, and staggering death tolls due to neglect and illness. The tragic legacy of these boarding schools carries on to this day.
The Role of the Catholic Church
The Roman Catholic Church was complicit in the oppression of Indigenous people while this program was in place. As a part of the government’s policy of forced assimilation, Indigenous children were mandated to accept Christianity. To ensure that they did, the Canadian government provided funding to a number of Christian denominations so they could open and operate these schools.
While the government provided funds, maintenance, and facilities, the churches were allowed to handle lesson planning and discipline as they saw fit. Under this policy, Indigenous children could be punished for speaking their native languages and practicing their own spiritual practices.
For much of this program, the Catholic Church was disproportionately represented. At its peak in 1931, the Indian Residential School System consisted of around 80 boarding schools. Of these, more than half were operated by the Catholic Church. For this reason, many Indigenous people see the Catholic Church as directly responsible for lasting generational trauma within their communities.
In the years since, various representatives of the Church have alluded to the atrocities committed under the Residential School System. However, a recent statement by Pope Francis is the first formal apology extended to Indigenous Canadians on behalf of the Church.
The Pope Apology
Over the years, bishops practicing ministry in Canada have issued their own statements on Catholic involvement in the Residential School System. Generally, though, these statements were made of their own accord rather than sanctioned by the Church.
In 2009, a delegation of Canadian bishops and First Nations representatives obtained an audience with then-Pope Benedict XVI. The delegation sought an official apology from the pope, but ultimately left disappointed. The official statement acknowledged that acts of abuse were intolerable and offered prayers to the victims; however, it did not offer an apology.
In early April of 2022, a similar delegation of First Nations representatives traveled to Rome to meet with Pope Francis. Considered by many to be a more progressive Catholic, Pope Francis is the first to extend a personal apology in solidarity with Canadian bishops who have already done so.
In his statement, Francis condemned Catholic boarding school practices as “deplorable” and asked his God for forgiveness. Additionally, he expressed his intention to travel to Canada in July to meet with survivors and their families.
Why Apologies Are Important
The words of Pope Francis are the first step toward healing. Something as destructive as Canada’s history of oppression against Indigenous communities required millions of people to be complicit.
When institutions like the Catholic Church acknowledge wrongdoing, it helps to affirm the experiences of those who were harmed. Additionally, it lays the groundwork for dialogue and reflection among individuals who justified inhumanity in the name of faith or ideology. Of course, apologies are not able to change the past. However, they are critical to fostering hope for a better future.
“Philomena,” is one of the most popular and celebrated films of 2013. Starring Dame Judi Dench and Steve Coogan, it tells the true story of an unwed Irish mother, Philomena Lee, who was forced to give up her son for adoption to an American family.
The Shame of Unwed Mothers
In 1952, Lee was pregnant, unmarried, and a sudden social outcast. Her family sent her to Sean Ross Abbey in Roscrea, Ireland. Managed by Catholic nuns, the home was a place of physical labor and moral shame. After giving birth to their children, the women were made to stay for four more years, the work seen as acts of repayment and repentance. The women toiled away in the laundries and kitchens, with no pay and no appreciation.
Like so many women taken to Sean Ross Abbey, Lee was brought to tears and indescribable sorrow at the sight of her son, who she named Anthony, being taken away by the American family. 50 years later, Lee can still remember seeing her son’s face through the back window of the car, staring back at the abbey and the only mother he had known.
A Life of Shadows
After leaving the abbey, Lee did her best to lead a normal life. She married, and gave birth to a daughter and another son. However, too embarrassed and ashamed of her past, Lee kept her past locked in the shadows. Due to the pledge of surrender she signed at the abbey, Lee carried around the fear that she would “burn in the fires of hell if she ever uttered to anyone about her shameful secret.”
However, she eventually enlisted the help of British journalist, Martin Sixsmith. With his assistance, they were able to discover the truth behind her son’s life in America.
In 2009, after much research, Sixsmith published his book, “The Lost Child of Philomena Lee.” The book offers a glimpse into the life of Anthony Lee, who was renamed Michael Hess. He became a very successful lawyer and a top official for the Republican Party in Washington D.C. However, due to his contraction of A.I.D.S., Anthony died in 1994.
Forgiveness and a New Movement
After learning of her son’s death, Lee wanted to help other women who had suffered her same fate. Along with the help of her daughter, they have founded “The Philomena Project,” an effort to help the Irish government reveal the secret adoption records for the mothers and children who became separated so many years ago.
On February 6, 2014, Lee and the film portraying her life reached new heights. The film was screened at the Vatican and Lee was an honored guest of Pope Francis. She hopes that he can help shed light on the past and the 60,000 women and lost children who endured her same pain.
The Pope’s visit is always news to talk about. The Vatican has finally shared the details of Pope Francis’s much-anticipated visit to Canada. The Pope will be visiting during the final week of July, from the 24th through the 30th. His week-long visit will see him travel to the cities of Québec, Edmonton, and Iqaluit.
Roman Catholics are the single largest religious group in Canada. With around 40% of the population identifying as Catholic, many Canadians are sure to be anticipating Francis’s visit. Still, a growing number of Canadians are identifying as less religious. For more secular Canadians, the Pope’s upcoming visit is attracting attention for other reasons.
Catholicism and Canada’s Indigenous Community
The Pope’s visit comes amidst an ongoing conversation about Canada’s history of oppression against its indigenous population. The latter portion of 2021 saw a renewed focus on the country’s decades-long residential school program.
Canada was forced to reckon with its legacy of forced relocation, family disruption, and rampant abuse when geologists uncovered several mass graves where residential schools once stood. These findings were a painful reminder of the atrocities levied against indigenous people in Canada and prompted a national outcry.
While Indian residential schools were commissioned by the Canadian government, officials typically looked toward religious bodies to manage them. While various Christian denominations operated these schools, Canada’s large Catholic population meant that residential schools were disproportionately run by the Catholic Church. As such, indigenous activists in Canada have long sought an official apology from the Vatican.
While an official apology has yet to be given, Pope Francis’s upcoming trip may signal that a change is soon to come.
The Pope’s Promise
Prompted by the discovery of the mass graves, a delegation of indigenous Canadians visited Vatican City in the spring of this year. There, the delegates met with the Pope and other clergy members to express the ways in which the Catholic Church had harmed indigenous Canadians.
On this day, Pope Francis made history by making a formal apology to indigenous Canadians for the Church’s role in the residential school program. Known for his progressive social stances compared to his predecessors, Pope Francis’s apology does not necessarily reflect the views of the Catholic Church itself.
While a formal apology by the Church was not made, it was here that the Pope vowed to visit Canada in order to meet with more activists and community leaders. Pope Francis is expected to apologize once more, although it remains to be seen whether or not this will be endorsed by the Vatican.
The Pope’s Itinerary
While details are still emerging, Canada’s indigenous community will be the focal point of his upcoming visit. During his stay, he will be visiting cities and communities with strong populations of indigenous people. During this time, he will make space for survivors and their families to tell their stories. Additionally, the Pope will be visiting some of the sites where residential schools once stood.
Francis’s visit to Edmonton is likely the most crucial part of his Canadian tour. Edmonton is the capital of Alberta, which is home to Canada’s second-largest population of indigenous peoples. In a stark reminder of the country’s past, Alberta was also once home to more than two dozen residential schools.
Local activists and leaders have communicated that an apology on Canadian soil would mean very much to them. Likewise, local leaders in the Catholic Church are also looking forward to an open dialogue that will bring about healing, understanding, and forgiveness.
As Canada continues to navigate its religious identity in a changing world, the Pope’s upcoming visit is likely to shape our understanding of the role of religion in the years to come.
After months of anticipation, Pope Francis’s visit to Canada was made in late July. In response to growing pressure to apologize for the Catholic Church’s role in the Canadian residential school system, the 85-year-old religious figure toured Edmonton, Quebec, and Iqaluit to meet with government officials and indigenous community leaders.
Accompanied by two Canadian Cardinals, Francis’s trip marks the most public acknowledgment of the Church’s wrongdoing in regards to the residential school system to date. The past year has put the Vatican under renewed scrutiny for its participation, prompted by the grim discovery of several mass graves where these schools once stood. While there is a sense that the Pope’s visit is a step in the right direction, some believe that his visit and apology do not go far enough.
Renewed Focus on Residential Schools
The Indian residential school system is a shameful part of Canadian history. The program provided government money to build and operate boarding schools to forcibly assimilate indigenous children into Canadian society. Enrollment in these schools was mandatory for indigenous children from the 1890s through the 1940s, and such schools continued to operate until the last one was closed in 1997.
Under this program, children were forcibly separated from their families, deprived of their culture, and subjected to numerous abuses. Tragically, these facilities were often rampant with disease. The poor sanitary conditions led to the deaths of thousands of children over the years. While this was known, this dark chapter had largely been buried until mass graves were uncovered in late 2021.
Increased scrutiny has put the Vatican under fire. As part of the Indian residential school system, the Canadian government disbursed funds to religious organizations to administer the program. With Catholicism having a strong presence in Canada, Indian residential schools were disproportionately under the jurisdiction of Catholic parishes.
Francis’s Visit vs. The Vatican
The resulting media attention that followed the discovery of the mass graves proved too strong to ignore. Indigenous leaders demanded a public apology from the Vatican, and ultimately arranged an audience with the Pope himself in Vatican City to air their grievances.
During the meeting, Francis grabbed headlines by extending a personal apology to the delegation of indigenous leaders. While his personal acknowledgement of the Church’s wrongdoing was applauded, it did not equate to an official apology from the Vatican itself.
The distinction between the Pope and Vatican’s respective positions was met with criticism by activists, and while his recent tour of Canada featured further expressions of sorrow, many activists feel more needs to be done.
Many activists felt that Francis’s apology failed to be specific about the scope and nature of the abuses suffered by indigenous children. Additionally, some argued that his apology put too much focus on individuals and not enough focus on the Church as an institution.
Interestingly enough, the Canadian government seems to echo this sentiment. Canada already issued a public apology in 2008 for its role in the atrocities, and now Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called for the Catholic Church itself to acknowledge its participation.
What We Can Learn Francis’s Visit
The atrocities committed during Canada’s residential school program are bigger than individuals. They are the culmination of broader beliefs and incentives, put forth by large institutions.
While it is true that individuals bear responsibility, individual accountability is not enough to make amends. Institutional acknowledgement and accountability are necessary because they require a reexamination of beliefs and practices. In order to truly atone and build a better future, powerful institutions must be reformed and rid themselves of the beliefs that underscored their wrongdoing.
Pope Francis has taken steps in the right direction, but the world waits for more action.
In May of 2021, the world was met with a shocking discovery. Anthropologists working in Kamloops, British Columbia, detected anomalies in the ground via radar scans. Upon examination, experts concluded that around 200 unmarked graves lay beneath the surface. The months that followed would yield similar grim findings and cast new light on a tragic part of Canada’s history.
Each of the gravesites was uncovered where a Canadian Indian Residential School once stood. Canada’s Indian Residential School System was a program of forced re-education mandated by the government and administered by various Christian churches. The program was characterized by the forced separation of Indigenous families, rampant physical abuse, and staggering death tolls due to neglect and illness. The tragic legacy of these boarding schools carries on to this day.
The Role of the Catholic Church
The Roman Catholic Church was complicit in the oppression of Indigenous people while this program was in place. As a part of the government’s policy of forced assimilation, Indigenous children were mandated to accept Christianity. To ensure that they did, the Canadian government provided funding to a number of Christian denominations so they could open and operate these schools.
While the government provided funds, maintenance, and facilities, the churches were allowed to handle lesson planning and discipline as they saw fit. Under this policy, Indigenous children could be punished for speaking their native languages and practicing their own spiritual practices.
For much of this program, the Catholic Church was disproportionately represented. At its peak in 1931, the Indian Residential School System consisted of around 80 boarding schools. Of these, more than half were operated by the Catholic Church. For this reason, many Indigenous people see the Catholic Church as directly responsible for lasting generational trauma within their communities.
In the years since, various representatives of the Church have alluded to the atrocities committed under the Residential School System. However, a recent statement by Pope Francis is the first formal apology extended to Indigenous Canadians on behalf of the Church.
The Pope Apology
Over the years, bishops practicing ministry in Canada have issued their own statements on Catholic involvement in the Residential School System. Generally, though, these statements were made of their own accord rather than sanctioned by the Church.
In 2009, a delegation of Canadian bishops and First Nations representatives obtained an audience with then-Pope Benedict XVI. The delegation sought an official apology from the pope, but ultimately left disappointed. The official statement acknowledged that acts of abuse were intolerable and offered prayers to the victims; however, it did not offer an apology.
In early April of 2022, a similar delegation of First Nations representatives traveled to Rome to meet with Pope Francis. Considered by many to be a more progressive Catholic, Pope Francis is the first to extend a personal apology in solidarity with Canadian bishops who have already done so.
In his statement, Francis condemned Catholic boarding school practices as “deplorable” and asked his God for forgiveness. Additionally, he expressed his intention to travel to Canada in July to meet with survivors and their families.
Why Apologies Are Important
The words of Pope Francis are the first step toward healing. Something as destructive as Canada’s history of oppression against Indigenous communities required millions of people to be complicit.
When institutions like the Catholic Church acknowledge wrongdoing, it helps to affirm the experiences of those who were harmed. Additionally, it lays the groundwork for dialogue and reflection among individuals who justified inhumanity in the name of faith or ideology. Of course, apologies are not able to change the past. However, they are critical to fostering hope for a better future.
“Philomena,” is one of the most popular and celebrated films of 2013. Starring Dame Judi Dench and Steve Coogan, it tells the true story of an unwed Irish mother, Philomena Lee, who was forced to give up her son for adoption to an American family.
The Shame of Unwed Mothers
In 1952, Lee was pregnant, unmarried, and a sudden social outcast. Her family sent her to Sean Ross Abbey in Roscrea, Ireland. Managed by Catholic nuns, the home was a place of physical labor and moral shame. After giving birth to their children, the women were made to stay for four more years, the work seen as acts of repayment and repentance. The women toiled away in the laundries and kitchens, with no pay and no appreciation.
Like so many women taken to Sean Ross Abbey, Lee was brought to tears and indescribable sorrow at the sight of her son, who she named Anthony, being taken away by the American family. 50 years later, Lee can still remember seeing her son’s face through the back window of the car, staring back at the abbey and the only mother he had known.
A Life of Shadows
After leaving the abbey, Lee did her best to lead a normal life. She married, and gave birth to a daughter and another son. However, too embarrassed and ashamed of her past, Lee kept her past locked in the shadows. Due to the pledge of surrender she signed at the abbey, Lee carried around the fear that she would “burn in the fires of hell if she ever uttered to anyone about her shameful secret.”
However, she eventually enlisted the help of British journalist, Martin Sixsmith. With his assistance, they were able to discover the truth behind her son’s life in America.
In 2009, after much research, Sixsmith published his book, “The Lost Child of Philomena Lee.” The book offers a glimpse into the life of Anthony Lee, who was renamed Michael Hess. He became a very successful lawyer and a top official for the Republican Party in Washington D.C. However, due to his contraction of A.I.D.S., Anthony died in 1994.
Forgiveness and a New Movement
After learning of her son’s death, Lee wanted to help other women who had suffered her same fate. Along with the help of her daughter, they have founded “The Philomena Project,” an effort to help the Irish government reveal the secret adoption records for the mothers and children who became separated so many years ago.
On February 6, 2014, Lee and the film portraying her life reached new heights. The film was screened at the Vatican and Lee was an honored guest of Pope Francis. She hopes that he can help shed light on the past and the 60,000 women and lost children who endured her same pain.
