An apology that is not the end

In its Call to Action 58, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission asked the pope to issue an apology to residential school survivors and their families, and to do so in Canada, within a year of the report's publication. The Catholic Church had indeed played a role in running the residential school system.

In the spring of 2022, First Nations, Inuit and Métis delegations, including survivors and young people, travelled to the Vatican to carry their words. On April 1, 2022, Pope Francis offered them a first request for forgiveness, in Rome.

Then, from July 24 to 29, 2022, he undertook in Canada what he called a "penitential pilgrimage." On July 25, at Maskwacis, Alberta, before thousands of Indigenous people, he humbly asked forgiveness for the evil committed by many Christians. He also repeated what many had told him: an apology is not an end point, only a starting point.

This moment does not settle everything, and the pope himself acknowledged as much. It recalls an Ubuntu lesson: asking forgiveness opens a door. What truly repairs is what we do next, over time, with the people who were hurt.