Pope needs to apologize for the residential schools

By Letter to the Editor on June 10, 2021.

Editor:
On June 1, 2021 the Lethbridge Herald carried a front page photograph of children’s shoes laid on St. Patrick’s Church steps. As a Catholic, I am ashamed. And angry. I can no longer excuse the Pope’s refusal to apologize for residential school atrocities. Since the very definition of sin is an offense against truth (CCC1849), the Church continues to sin every additional day that it resists what it knows to be true; which is that residential schools were church-sanctioned, regardless of which religious orders actually administered them.
Just as a CEO cannot pass his company’s blame to a subordinate, the Pope cannot hide behind localized apologies or half-hearted expressions of sorrow. Nothing short of a true apology – in Canada, as requested by the TRC – will suffice. Neither will that be the end of it. The Church must then do the necessary penance as our Catechism demands (CCC1459).
I call upon my fellow Catholics to send a letter or postcard to Pope Francis, Apostolic Palace, 00120, Vatican City. Regrettably, no electronic or social media is accepted. Or email the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops at http://www.cccb.ca/contact. Our message is simple, “Apologize for Canadian Residential Schools Now.”
Alice Matisz
Lethbridge