Bishops try to clarify Pope’s refusal to apologize for residential schools
OTTAWA — The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops says it’s incorrect to suggest that Pope Francis is refusing to apologize to survivors of Canada’s notoriously abusive residential schools.
The conference has sent a background paper to MPs and senators in a bid to clarify what it characterizes as “misunderstandings and factual errors” in media reports about the Pope’s decision not to personally apologize for the role played by the Roman Catholic Church in operating the schools.
The paper suggests that under the church’s decentralized structure, it’s not appropriate for the Pope to apologize, that it’s best left to Canadian bishops to pursue engagement and reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples.
A papal apology was one of 94 recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.