WHAT can be said of Pope Benedict XVI’s failure this week to formally apologize, on behalf of the Catholic Church, for its role in the suffering of thousands of Canadian native children who were physically and sexually abused at church-run, state-supported residential schools for almost a century?
First, there’s no question Pope Benedict’s words of sorrow, anguish and acknowledgement of the unacceptable nature of what happened – offered when he met former students and victims, including Phil Fontaine, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, at the Vatican on Wednesday – are welcome indeed.
To Mr. Fontaine, the fact the word "apology" was not used by the Pope did not lessen the significance of what happened.
"We are very pleased with what we heard from His Holiness," said Mr. Fontaine.
"He made it very clear that it’s intolerable and unacceptable to have abuse in its many forms perpetrated on innocent children. He talked about the anguish," said Mr. Fontaine. "In my view, it was a very important statement."
For some survivors, however, the absence of that particular word – "apology" – marred what should have been a day to finally close the door on the past.
"You can’t forgive when somebody hasn’t apologized," said Doreen Bernard of Indian Brook. Ms. Bernard attended a residential school for more than six years in the 1960s, and her parents’ and grandparents’ generations were also sent to the schools. Ms. Bernard pointed out that the Pope, in the past, has apologized for church involvement in physical and sexual abuses of children in other countries.
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http://thechronicleherald.ca/Editorial/1119533.html
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