It is so easy to notice the terrible or the negative or the destructive in our world. This includes noticing that which is terrible or negative or destructive in religious systems or in the church.
It is enlivening and helpful to see the good and the hopeful when it is present.
Today offered such hope for many people. Today the Pope said sorry for the “deplorable” actions of the Catholic Church in Canada.
At the Vatican, in the closing meeting of a week-long visit of Indigenous leaders and others from Canada, the leader of the delegation, Chief Gerald Antoine of the Dene Nation, identified today as “a day that will be lifted up in history”.
The context is this: Members of the Indigenous Nations from Canada have been visiting the Vatican to tell stories of how they and their people were dehumanized and hurt by the actions, theology, and ideology of the Catholic Church, particularly in regards to the Indian Residential School System in Canada.
Along with many others, I have been impressed by the delegation and its leadership. One of the young leaders, Natan Obed, Inuit Tapariit Kanatami President, said after Pope Francis’ final remarks today, “The apology is long overdue and survivors will have different feelings about it. It was a heartfelt expression delivered in an empathetic and caring way. I was touched by the way in which he expressed his sorrow and also by the way in which he condemned the actions of the church.”
Fellow Indigenous leader Cassidy Caron, President of the Métis National Council, said, “I am not here to represent me or my stories. I’m here to deliver messages on behalf of our Métis Nation citizens back home and we have done just that in hopes that we would be heard. Here we are today and we are being heard, on an international level. We feel heard and we feel listened to.”
Chief Gerald Antoine (Dene Nation) articulated a metaphor that had apparently been used in meetings with Pope Francis. The Pope himself also spoke of the metaphor in his final remarks. Chief Antoine said that humanity is a tree and the branches grow in many directions, though they have the same root. He said that he felt today there had been a seed of love planted and that love offers nourishment and life.
Elder Angie Crerar closed the final press gathering with a prayer. Before she prayed she said with joy that “Today was a day that I will never forget. My heart is so full I can hardly speak. I told him, ‘Don’t forget our children’, and he said, ‘We won’t’. To me, that’s a dream come true. I could see with his heart and his whole body that he cared for us, that he felt it. Now we’re learning how to trust.”
The responses noted above were to the comments of Pope Francis who earlier offered his address after the days of meeting. Here are some of his words:
“Thank you for your presence, for the prayers you have offered to heaven. I have listened to your testimonies, I have brought them to my thoughts and prayers. I thank you for having opened your hearts to me. Let me start by saying that it is part of your traditional wisdom. We must deliver impact on other generations. The ties connecting the elderly and the young are essential. Whenever memory and identity are cherished and protected we become more human. You compared yourselves to the branches of a tree, spread in different directions. You have been buffered, you have remained rooted. You care for the land. You see it not as a resource to be exploited, but as a gift from heaven. The particular gifts of your languages, your forms of art, they are expressions of our common humanity. The tragedy is of the tree being uprooted, trying to conform you to another mentality. Many families were separated and great numbers of children fell victim to these attempts to impose a uniformity, rather than a desire to respect the life of people. This is something that still happens today - ideological colonization - driven by greed and thirst for profit with little concern for people. This mentality remains widespread. Let us help one another to overcome it. I am deeply grieved by the stories of abuse that some of you experienced. It’s chilling to think of determined efforts to instill a sense of inferiority. Unresolved traumas have become intergenerational traumas. All this made me feel two things strongly, indignation and shame. It is not right to accept evil and even worse to grow accustomed to evil. I feel sorrow and shame for the role that a number of Catholics have had in all these things that wounded you and for the lack of respect shown for your identity, your culture and even your spiritual values. All these things are contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ. For the deplorable conduct of these members of the Catholic church, I ask for God’s forgiveness and I want to say with all my heart, I am very sorry. The content of the faith cannot be transmitted in a way contrary to the faith itself. Jesus taught us to welcome, love, serve and not judge. It is a frightening thing then when precisely in the name of the faith, counter-witness is rendered to the gospel. We are here on this earth as guardians of the sacredness of life and as guardians of one another. I wish to tell you that the church stands with you and wants to journey beside you. Dear friends, I have been enriched by your words and even more by your testimonies. I will be happy again to benefit from meeting you when I visit your native land where your families live. I will close by saying, until we meet again in Canada. I invoke on you the blessings of the Creator.”
At this, Pope Francis turned to address Catholic leaders and Bishops in the room. It seemed to be a reminder to church leaders as to where true strength and witness existed. He said to them, “The Spirit of the Lord is revealed in humility. The humiliation of the church is fruitfulness.”
Two brief reflections on this occasion and this day:
This is first a story and occasion for the actual people impacted. We ought to learn from Pope Francis in that he first listened and engaged with the stories of the people.
Fruitfulness is in humiliation. Clearly the Pope recognizes that too often in history and too readily to this day, the church has sought to work out its mission by ways of earthly power and domination. He called for us to see how this tendency is still present. He identified that faith cannot be transmitted in ways contrary to the faith itself.
I offer an imaginative exercise towards hope and life:
Imagine if more and more church leaders recognized that, as the Pope said today, things that claim to be faithful might actually be evil. Faith cannot be forced. As Karl Barth wrote, “Christian faith cannot be coerced”.
It takes a leader with the character of Pope Francis, someone who cares about people more than institutions, to say sorry. Many other leaders have ignored, defended or even attacked victims of evil. How many other systems of religion, outside of Catholicism, perhaps in your own experience, have sought to further the faith by ways of domination, earthly power, accusation and attack?
Did you grow up in a church in which leaders assumed that others should apologize, and that humbling themselves was what others were supposed to do? Can you remember any occasions in which, as the Pope referred to today, leaders tried to instil in you a sense of inferiority? May you know that such action is contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is stunning to consider how many leaders in large and small churches have acted in ways that call for apology. You might never get your apology, but you can see what a blessing such expressions can be. Many, perhaps most, examples of religious domination and coercion have remained unaddressed. How much hurt has been caused in so many churches and religious communities where coercion was exercised? If you don’t think an apology is coming, it might be helpful to simply reflect upon how control and domination can pose as faith. We can consider where we might apologise for being fearful or controlling. We might reflect upon how people who claimed to have our best interest at heart were actually being driven by fearful or arrogant worldview and theology. May you be freed from the oppression of fearful religion.
May this day be lifted up in history.