“I felt disappointed that more wasn’t said,” said Dorene Bernard, who attended the apology in Maskwacis and also saw the pope at the Citadelle de Québec. Bernard wanted to hear Pope Francis annul the Doctrine of Discovery, a centuries-old edict of the Church used to justify the colonization of indigenous lands. “I felt his apology was very scripted and probably done by the Vatican lawyers and there were definitely words in there that he couldn’t say,” he said. “I expected him to go off script and speak from the heart, although there were moments when he did, and of course one of them was on the plane when he was leaving, when he said what happened here to the indigenous people was genocide.” Lutz, a practicing Catholic, was less critical of the Pope’s words. “I thought it was good for where he was standing and the people he was talking to,” he said. Lutz believes the Pope said what he was told to say, but when he was alone and there wasn’t a large audience around him, he spoke from his heart. “Listens. He sees us,” Lutz said. Both Bernard and Lutz are grateful that the Pope came to Canada, but Bernard wishes the school’s survivors had more opportunities to interact with him. He believes reconciliation is a “throwaway” word and wants to see action, such as the release of household records at the Vatican and their return to Canada — records he believes could help resolve unanswered questions about children who are not ever returned home from residential schools. For Bernard, the Pope’s visit also gave him hope. “People are perhaps even more ready to come for healing and talk now that the Pope has acknowledged that this was genocide,” he said. “Maybe those who have always been afraid to speak up, speak up.”
If you are a former residential school survivor at risk or have been affected by the residential school system and need help, you can contact the Indian Residential Schools 24 Hour Crisis Line: 1-866-925-4419 Additional mental health support and resources for Indigenous peoples are available here.
