Walking together means receiving as well as giving
Papal visit shows Church is slow to relinquish its role as oppressor
Pope Francis today completes his visit to Canada having fulfilled the request of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to apologize 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 Metis children in Catholic-run residential schools.”
The pope did that and more during his six-day visit. He fulfilled the purpose of the visit. So, was his visit a success?
It was a success for those who accepted his apologies as providing closure for a lifetime of hurt grounded in their residential school experience. Others are not yet ready to let the past go. We cannot cast a negative judgment on those who are not yet ready or able to forgive. The trauma they or their parents or grandparents have endured is not something one can turn off just because eloquent words of repentance have been offered.
Still others maintain that the papal apologies did not go far enough and that the Church still casts an oppressive shadow over the lives of the original inhabitants of this land.
The pope has left the ball in the hands of Catholic leaders and the faithful in Canada to continue the process of reconciliation. What we can say is that the Church has come a long way since Phil Fontaine broke the silence about residential schools in 1990 when he spoke about the abuse he and fellow students experienced at the Fort Alexander, Man., residential school.
Catholics have mostly moved beyond the facile defences of the schools which were then offered – “the schools did a lot of good”; “Fontaine’s experience was the exception not the rule”; “the Indians are only trying to get more money out of the Church and the government.”
But before we get self-congratulatory about our changing attitudes, ask another question: Is the Church still an oppressor? Some will be aghast at the question. “The Church is not an oppressor. She is a sign of contradiction in a world gone awry.”
It’s not easy to recognize that one is part of a system of oppression. But if you have trouble with that idea, look to the finely arrayed, all-male hierarchy who surrounded the pope at the public Masses and other liturgies. Look at the sumptuous meeting room at the archbishop’s “palace” in Quebec City where Pope Francis met with 22 survivors. Those in attendance sat in stiff, luxurious chairs in a room where large portraits of a couple dozen previous Quebec bishops looked down upon them.
Why do bishops need palaces? The image of power they exude puts bishops in the same social class as the corporate elite rather than that of the people they are assigned to serve.
But if you still cannot see the Church as oppressor here in Canada, go to Spain. Visit those enormous 16th century churches and ask, “Where did all that gold come from? How did it get to Spain?”
Then visit Latin America and see the grinding poverty of the Indigenous people and the great wealth of the descendants of the conquistadors. Perhaps go to Potosi in southern Bolivia. The region’s silver mines and a brutal system of forced labour of Indigenous people made Potosi one of the wealthiest and largest cities in the world by the year 1600. Today, it is a dilapidated and poverty-stricken city where people continue to die from diseases connected with the mining industry.
The Church did not run the gold and silver mines, but Potosi silver decorated the insides of churches in both Bolivia and Spain. And it was the Church’s Doctrine of Discovery in 1493 which facilitated the economic exploitation of the Americas.
This is part of the wider context of Pope Francis’ visit to Canada. Perhaps the visit will be an historical footnote. Or maybe it will be a turning point which leads to justice, healing and inclusion of Indigenous people in Canadian society.
The Catholic Church no longer has much power or influence. But her hierarchy still wants to act as though she does. That desire reveals a horrible blindness.
Those Indigenous people who want more from the Church are right. More, much more, needs to be done before we can walk together in reconciliation with Indigenous people. Trappings of wealth and power need to be shed, and the Church must reconfigure itself from a hierarchy to a circle. The First Peoples of Canada can help us in that regard. They can bring to us the healing we need rather than just be the recipients of our largesse. There is the real hope for the future – a walking together that is without pomp and paternalism.
In his July 28 homily at Vespers in the Quebec cathedral, Pope Francis urged bishops, priests, consecrated men and women, seminarians and pastoral workers to avoid feeling superior to the People of God. Instead, they should be “docile and accessible servants.”
“This is where we must start. You are key figures and builders of a different Church: humble, meek, merciful, which accompanies processes, labours decisively and serenely in the service of inculturation, and shows respect for each individual and for every cultural and religious difference. Let us offer this witness!”
This is where we can all begin to walk together.
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Walking together means receiving as well as giving
Thanks Glen. Helpful and fair. Calling the elites in the church towards the type of spirit that can let the Holy Spirit draw forth leadership anywhere among the faithful. May they and we all have ears to listen and feet to follow.
Thanks Glen for another very insightful comment regarding the Pope’s pilgrimage. I felt almost like a traitor criticizing the Popes homily at the Commonwealth Stadium because I admire this Pope so much…but the homily (and the whole liturgy overall) was so lacking in sensitivity to the message for the Aboriginal peoples that your July 26 posting almost spoke for me… But in many ways the Pope has come through with a more complete message and I feel you have been able to touch these nuances effectively. Thanks so much