“reconcili-action” — moving from words to deeds

The next pope will inherit Pope Francis' mixed legacy with Indigenous people

Story by PETER SMITH, April 29, 2025, Associated Press

quotes: 

Perhaps the most dramatic of [Pope] Francis’ encounters with the Indigenous community occurred on a July day in 2022 in Maskwacis, a small town in the Canadian province of Alberta and the hub of four Cree nations.

There, Pope Francis paid respects at a cemetery near a former residential school for Indigenous children. He then delivered a long-sought apology for Catholic complicity in the 19th- and 20th-century residential school system for the First Nations, Metis and Inuit people of Canada.

“I am deeply sorry, sorry for the ways in which, regrettably, many Christians supported the colonizing mentality of the powers that oppressed the Indigenous peoples,” Francis said.

The Rev. Cristino Bouvette recalled being unexpectedly emotional at that moment.

Bouvette, an Alberta priest of Cree and Metis heritage who was liturgical coordinator for the pope’s Canada visit, recalled hearing the applause and seeing some onlookers weeping. 

. . .

“It’s 150 years of trauma. It’s going to take us a bit of time to recover,” said Wilton Littlechild, a residential school survivor and former Grand Chief of the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations in Canada. “He put us on a real strong path to reconciliation, but it can’t stop.”

. . .

Doctrine of Discovery

In 2023, the Vatican formally repudiated the Doctrine of Discovery, which legitimized colonial-era seizure of Native lands by Spain and Portugal. The concept forms the basis of some property laws today in the United States.

The Vatican said the related decrees, or papal bulls, “did not adequately reflect the equal dignity and rights of Indigenous peoples” and have never been considered expressions of the Catholic faith.

Fernie Marty, an elder in Sacred Heart Church of the First Peoples, a parish that uses Native language and customs, said the action showed the pope was moving from words to deeds — what Marty called “reconcili-action.”

“I thought, wow, this is another proof that he’s on the right track,” he said.

But Lopez said Francis didn’t go far enough by not rescinding the papal bulls. To Lopez, that means they’re still technically on the books.

Not only do Native people have historical traumas, Lopez said, but the church itself needs healing from the “soul wound” of this legacy. But it has to fully make amends, he said.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/the-next-pope-will-inherit-pope-francis-mixed-legacy-with-indigenous-people/ar-AA1DOg4e   as of 4/29/2025