While some saw the Pope's long-awaited apology as illuminating a path forward for residential school survivors and those affected by the legacy of the institutions, others were not satisfied, noting he didn't mention sexual abuse or day school survivors.
Pope Francis didn't mention sexual abuse, day school survivors in long-awaited apology in CanadaPhil Fontaine, the former chief of the Assembly of First Nations and a residential school survivor says, for him, accepting the Pope's apology is an important step in moving forward. But not all survivors feel that way.
He said the forced assimilation of Indigenous peoples into Christian society destroyed their cultures, severed their families and marginalized generations in ways still being felt today."I humbly beg forgiveness for the evil committed by so many Christians against the Indigenous peoples," Francis told thousands of Indigenous people, including many survivors, who converged on Maskwacis, Alta., about 100 kilometres south of Edmonton.
But Fontaine, a survivor of the Fort Alexander Indian Residential School in Manitoba who led the negotiations that resulted in the 2006 Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, said accepting the apology on behalf of the man who speaks on behalf of the Catholic church is an important step in moving forward.
"Because we also want to move on. We want to find peace and solace in our lives. And if we can't bring ourselves to forgive, then this matter, this burden that we've had to shoulder for years and years, that'll carry on endlessly."Not all survivors were as satisfied with the Pope's apology.
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