Apologies are one thing, reconciliation is another
National Post, 08 April 2022
A new generation of Aboriginal leadership is not seeking reconciliation as much as redress
After a week in Rome, with Pope Francis spending five hours with Indigenous leaders from Canada, two things emerged clearly.
First, that the Holy Father was moved by the testimonies he heard from the Indigenous delegates he encountered. That will form the foundation for a trip to Canada, widely expected this year — “not in the winter” the Argentinian joked about travelling to the northern end of the Americas — and an apology related to residential schools. It will be the in-Canada complement to the apology already given in 2009 by Pope Benedict XVI in Rome.
Some Indigenous leaders professed surprise that Pope Francis apologized frankly and forthrightly and in a text that was so poignant, even lyrical at times. It should never have been in doubt, as Pope Francis has said the same thing on different occasions in different contexts and, despite subsequent political manoeuvring, what Pope Benedict said in 2009 was widely acknowledged then to be an apology.
Contrition renewed brings its own graces, so to apologize again was a worthy initiative. Apologies have multiplied since the first comprehensive Catholic apology in 1991, so while this one was important, it was not a surprise.
Apologies are one thing, though; reconciliation is another.
Reconciliation requires “forgiveness from both parties” said Inuit delegation member Martha Grieg after her meeting with the Pope on Monday. There are more than two parties though; there are several parties with competing agendas, and not all of them are seeking reconciliation.
That’s the second reality clear from last week. The window for reconciliation is closing, and closing fast.
The generation of Indigenous leadership interested in genuine healing and reconciliation is already past, and the papal visit will be their last turn on stage. A new generation of leadership is not seeking reconciliation as much as redress, reparations and even renunciations of the Christian presence in pre-confederation Canada.
Nothing made that more clear than the presence of former Assembly of First Nations (AFN) national chief Phil Fontaine in Rome and the absence of the current AFN national chief, RoseAnne Archibald, who refused to join the delegation to meet Pope Francis.
Reconciliation requires encounters; Chief Archibald was not so inclined. It is assumed that she will consent to meet Pope Francis in Canada. But her absence in Rome raises questions about what she might expect from the papal visit to Canada. An opportunity for deeper reconciliation? Or a time for fresh recriminations?
In Archibald’s absence, the AFN delegation was led by Chief Gerald Antoine.
“We accept this apology,” he said simply in Rome. The AFN press release did not include those words, but simply noted the apology before moving on to other matters.
Chief Archibald is 20 years younger than the experienced elders on this delegation, Fontaine and Chief Willie Littlechild, a commissioner with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). The older chiefs, who worked hard in the 1990s and early 2000s toward the residential schools settlement in 2006, were keen to heal relationships and establish new partnerships after the pain of residential schools. Littlechild spoke of his “long walk to Rome” and Fontaine about “finally turning a corner.”
On the other hand, the younger leaders in the AFN delegation hardly spoke about meeting the Pope at all.
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