The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a formal apology Friday for the church’s role in the abuse and trauma experienced by Native Americans in the United States, particularly in church-run boarding schools that tried to force the assimilation of Native American children into American culture. .
Beginning in the 19th century, hundreds of thousands of indigenous children were removed from their families and sent to schools, where they often faced abuse, neglect, and hard labor. Of the more than 500 domestic boarding schools established across the country, most with federal participation or support, 87 were run by Catholics, according to a document by the research group Catholic Truth and Healing.
“The family systems of many indigenous peoples have never fully recovered from these tragedies, which often resulted in broken homes marred by addiction, domestic abuse, abandonment and neglect,” the bishops wrote in a 56-page document issued on Friday called the pastoral frame. . “The Church acknowledges that it played a role in the trauma experienced by indigenous children.”
More generally, the document says about the mistreatment of Native Americans: “We apologize for failing to nurture, strengthen, honor, recognize, and value those entrusted to our pastoral care.”
Nick Tilsen, chief executive of the NDN Collective, an indigenous rights group, and a member of the Oglala Lakota tribe, said the bishops’ apology seemed half-hearted.
“A recognition of this magnitude has to come with action,” Mr Tilsen said. “Because without action behind it, it’s literally saying, ‘Sorry, not sorry.’
He noted that the document mixes acknowledgments of the harm done to Native children with claims of positive effects some of the schools have had, such as housing children in Alaska orphaned by epidemics.
“If you’re just going to apologize, just apologize,” Mr. Tilsen said. “How many times have people taught their children. “Don’t say sorry and then say but…”.
The pastoral document includes a number of recommendations for the church to address its past and reconcile with Native Americans, including disclosing and sharing historical records and cooperating with abuse investigations.
“A sense of trust must first be cultivated before the Church’s desire for reconciliation with the Native American community can be satisfied,” the bishops wrote. “There also needs to be a similar desire for reconciliation on the part of the Native American community.”
It is not the first time that the Catholic Church has acknowledged its role in the abuses committed against indigenous people in North America. Pope Francis apologized for the church’s role in the Canadian government’s similar treatment of indigenous peoples during a visit to Canada in 2022.
“I’m sorry,” Pope Francis said at the time. “I ask forgiveness, in particular, for the ways in which many members of the church and religious communities cooperated, largely through their indifference, in projects of cultural destruction and forced assimilation promoted by the governments of the day, culminating in the residential school system ».
