Church Apologies and Reconciliation - TRC Calls to Action 58-61

Residential School Apology & Sunday Homily June 27, 2021

The Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Anglican and United Church of Canada were involved in operating residential schools. All the churches, except the Roman Catholic Church have apologized at an institutional level. While, many Roman Catholic religious congregations and RC Dioceses have issued sincere apologies, neither the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, nor the Head of the Roman Catholic Church has issued a formal apology on behalf of the institution. The hierarchical branch of the Roman Catholic Church rationalizes this by strict adherence, in this particular situation, to its decentralized structure. For the RC Church to issue a formal apology from the hierarchy is an important step in reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples, many of whom are baptized Catholics. The video above represents the opinion of many Catholics in Canada. 

Church Apologies and Reconciliation

58. We call upon the Pope to issue an apology to Survivors, their families, and communities for the Roman Catholic Church’s role in the spiritual, cultural, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis children in Catholic-run residential schools. We call for that apology to be similar to the 2010 apology issued to Irish victims of abuse and to occur within one year of the issuing of this Report and to be delivered by the Pope in Canada.

59. We call upon church parties to the Settlement Agreement to develop ongoing education strategies to ensure that their respective congregations learn about their church’s role in colonization, the history and legacy of residential schools, and why apologies to former residential school students, their families, and communities were necessary.

60. We call upon leaders of the church parties to the Settlement Agreement and all other faiths, in collaboration with Indigenous spiritual leaders, Survivors, schools of theology, seminaries, and other religious training centres, to develop and teach curriculum for all student clergy, and all clergy and staff who work in Aboriginal communities, on the need to respect Indigenous spirituality in its own right, the history and legacy of residential schools and the roles of the church parties in that system, the history and legacy of religious conflict in Aboriginal families and communities, and the responsibility that churches have to mitigate such conflicts and prevent spiritual violence.

61. We call upon church parties to the Settlement Agreement, in collaboration with Survivors and representatives of Aboriginal organizations, to establish permanent funding to Aboriginal people for:

    i. Community-controlled healing and reconciliation projects.

    ii. Community-controlled culture- and language revitalization projects.

    iii. Community-controlled education and relationship building projects.

    iv. Regional dialogues for Indigenous spiritual leaders and youth to discuss Indigenous spirituality,         self determination, and reconciliation.