The Catholic Church and Truth and Reconciliation - by Christine Way Skinner

On Saturday, May 27th, CLC sponsored a conversation on “The Church and Truth and Reconciliation - Challenges, Learnings, Opportunities to advance Reconciliation.” Panelists were Fr. Daryold Winkler - pastor of St. Basil’s Parish in Ottawa and Fr. Peter Bisson, S.J., assistant to the Jesuit provincial for justice, ecology and Indigenous relations. Both priests are involved in Kateri Native Ministry in Ottawa. Donna Naughton, the Executive Director of Kateri Ministry was, regrettably not able to join us in person but sent her thoughts which were presented by CLC’s Indigenous Relations lead, Donna McGreal, who also moderated the session.

All panelists expressed both disappointment and hope regarding the work of reconciliation. Fr. Daryold voiced disappointment that it took seven years for the pope to come to Canada after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommendation that he do so. Nevertheless, the pope’s visit was regarded as a hopeful event, full of genuine and authentic expression of repentance. All agreed that for an apology to be meaningful, it will need to be followed up with concrete actions on the part of the church at all levels. Fr. Peter reminded us that the church is composed of many people and can’t be identified with the hierarchy alone. Some members of the church wish to avoid corporate responsibility and others are committed to healing and reconciliation. In general, he said, the hierarchy is moving from a defensive to a more pastoral response. Fr. Daryold, who is himself Ojibway and a second-generation survivor of the Indian Day School and Residential School system, noted that the repudiation of the doctrine of discovery was an important symbolic action (which he explained was not one but many different statements on the part of the official church). Fr. Peter has been encouraged to see indigenous Catholics beginning to speak out as indigenous with spiritual gifts given by God to share with the rest of the church.

When asked about ongoing obstacles and opportunities to reconciliation, everyone agreed the task before us looms large. Fr. Daryold referenced Murray Sinclair’s metaphor of standing at the base of the Rocky Mountains, beginning the ascent. There are still too many Canadians who do not know the history or who minimize the trauma that was experienced by colonialism. Education is critical and, says Fr. Daryold, must begin with the Catholic bishops. Some dioceses have an office with staff devoted to the task of reconciliation, but this is rare. Fr. Peter pointed to the establishment of the centre for the study of Reconciliation at St. Paul University in Ottawa as a hopeful sign.

For Fr. Peter the big challenge before us is that opening our ears means changing our identity and changing our stories about ourselves. “That,” he observed, “is frightening. We like to think, especially in the church, that we are good people and nice people. It is harder to criticize our corporate identities than our individual identities. Harder to say we did wrong rather than I did wrong.” He noted that “The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable.” We must go through the painful process of learning, growing, and changing to reach a new life.

Obstacles also exist in efforts towards inculturation of the liturgy. Fr. Daryold referenced the term “pagan’ which is often used by people inside the church to describe indigenous ceremonies. He explained that it is completely in line with magisterial teaching to incorporate native traditional spiritual practices into prayer. The panelists all felt that there was a missed opportunity in the liturgical celebrations that took place during Pope Francis’ penitential pilgrimage. Of particular note was the decision while in Edmonton to pray in Latin rather than an Indigenous language when there were bishops present who speak indigenous languages. “What an amazing statement that would have been!” declared Fr. Daryold.

The final question for the panelists was, “What lessons have we learned about the church’s response and our work towards reconciliation?” Both speakers were clear that there can be no shortcuts. Reconciliation is not about ticking off boxes but requires hard work over the long term. Fr. Peter noted that all reconciliation must be based on right relationships between indigenous and non-indigenous people and these relationships must be in the context of right relationship with God and all of creation.