Why these survivors and advocates want more than an apology from the Pope
CBC
Residential school survivor Evelyn Korkmaz has yet to decide if she'll attend any of the events planned during the visit by Pope Francis to Canada at the end of the month.
"If I do go, I would like to have a word with the Pope," said Korkmaz, who is Cree from Fort Albany First Nation, on the west coast of James Bay.
The Pope will be in Canada from July 24 to 29 with stops in Edmonton, Quebec City and Iqaluit, and is expected to apologize in person for the Catholic Church's role in the residential school system.
Korkmaz attended the notorious St. Anne's residential school in Fort Albany between 1969 and 1972, and is a founding member of Advocates for Clergy Trauma Survivors in Canada.
"We must respect all survivors. There are some survivors that need to hear the apology and want the Pope to come over but there's some of us that want more than a forced apology," she said.
"What is a forced apology going to accomplish? We want justice."
For Korkmaz, that means accountability and action, such as the Catholic Church releasing all documents and records to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.
She said papal bulls, or decrees from the Pope, that were released in the 1400s that enforced the Doctrine of Discovery — the legal and moral foundation for how Canada was colonized — also need to be rescinded.
It's a part of a wider scope of harm to Indigenous communities by the Catholic Church, beyond residential schools, that many feel need to be addressed.
Claudette Commanda, an Anishinaabe (Algonquin) elder from Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg in western Quebec, noted Indian day school survivors have been left out.
While separate from the residential school system, Indian or federal day schools were part of federal policy aimed at assimilating Indigenous children and often had religious affiliations.
The Roman Catholic Church operated the majority of the nearly 700 schools.
"Day school survivors need to be acknowledged as well," said Commanda, who is a board member of the McLean Day Schools Settlement Corporation Legacy Fund.
"It was the same system that ran these schools and that abused children."