The sad, surreal visit of an apologetic Pope (UPDATED)

QUEBEC, CANADA - JULY 27: One-year-old Yonnan Flamand is lifted into the air by his father Alland Flamand of Manawan as Pope Francis delivers remarks at the Citadelle of Quebec on the Plains of Abraham on July 27, 2022 in Quebec, Canada. Pope Francis is traveling across Canada for a “pilgrimage of penance,” to meet with and apologize to Indigenous communities for the abuse at Catholic-run residential schools. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Canadian Indigenous peoples face a reckoning after being granted an audience with a major symbol of their oppression.

Rob Capriccioso

Pope Francis is scheduled this evening to complete his week-long Indigenous apology tour through Canada. He’s used his visit to offer seemingly heartfelt condolences to Indigenous peoples throughout Canada for portions of the Catholic Church’s role in their genocidal assimilation. 

Indigenous peoples’ most progressive hope for his trip was that he would rescind the 1493 Papal Bull and related Doctrine of Discovery, which served as the historical Church-sanctioned policy rationale for destroying and subverting Native culture in the so-called New World. But he has not done that — and even the most idealistic of Indigenous advocates suspected he would not.

To do that would have undermined a foundational principle of Christian, colonial and capitalistic ideology, and few contemporary world systems seem prepared for the possible ramifications — financial, social and otherwise.

A brief summary of the 1493 bull follows:

The Papal Bull "Inter Caetera," issued by Pope Alexander VI on May 4, 1493, played a central role in the Spanish conquest of the New World. The document supported Spain’s strategy to ensure its exclusive right to the lands discovered by Columbus the previous year. It established a demarcation line one hundred leagues west of the Azores and Cape Verde Islands and assigned Spain the exclusive right to acquire territorial possessions and to trade in all lands west of that line. All others were forbidden to approach the lands west of the line without special license from the rulers of Spain. This effectively gave Spain a monopoly on the lands in the New World.

The Bull stated that any land not inhabited by Christians was available to be "discovered," claimed, and exploited by Christian rulers and declared that "the Catholic faith and the Christian religion be exalted and be everywhere increased and spread, that the health of souls be cared for and that barbarous nations be overthrown and brought to the faith itself." This "Doctrine of Discovery" became the basis of all European claims in the Americas as well as the foundation for the United States’ western expansion. In the US Supreme Court in the 1823 case Johnson v. McIntosh, Chief Justice John Marshall’s opinion in the unanimous decision held "that the principle of discovery gave European nations an absolute right to New World lands." In essence, American Indians had only a right of occupancy, which could be abolished.

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 Questions abound: Will the papal bull ever be rescinded? If so, what will that mean? Will the Pope make a similar visit to the U.S. and to Latin America, which both experienced similar atrocities to the Indigenous peoples of Canada? Will anything really change as a result of this sorry snapshot?

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Papal Visit 

The historic visit by Pope Francis to Canada this week drew thousands of Indigenous people from across Turtle Island to hear the apology they had been expecting for the Catholic Church’s role in the ugly residential school history.

ICT’s special correspondent Miles Morrisseau, Métis Nation, based in Manitoba, Canada, was among them. He witnessed the apology in Maskwacis, Alberta, on the grounds of the former Ermineskin Indian Residential School. He was there for the applause, for the tears and the emotional protest song.

And he was there to gather reaction to the long-awaited penance, from tribal leaders who gathered and the First Nations, Métis and Inuit people who made a pilgrimage to see the Pope.

He followed the Pope to Lac Ste. Anne where the Pontiff sat silently looking toward the lake before blessing the crowd with its sacred waters. And he was there to talk to the Cree woman whose tearful song on Monday brought an outpouring around the world.

ICT National Correspondent Mary Annette Pember also joined the coverage, gathering perspectives from Indigenous people in the United States who hope the Pope will make a similar “penitence pilgrimage” to apologize for the U.S. boarding school system. She explored Indigenous demands that the Catholic Church return the tens of thousands of sacred artifacts stored in Vatican museums.

ICT gave readers the Indigenous perspective of a story that is very personal for many of us.. 

Here’s a round-up of ICT’s coverage of the papal visit:

Sunday, July 24

Pressure mounts for residential school apology By Miles Morrisseau and Mary Annette Pember A six-day swing through the heart of Indigenous Canada is meant to be a ‘penitential voyage’ ... continue reading

[AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski]

Pope takes first step toward apology By ICT Pope Francis arrived Sunday in Canada to high expectations that he will apologize for the Catholic Church’s role in operating Indigenous residential schools ... continue reading

[AP Photo/Eric Gay]

Monday, July 25

Apology at last in Canada By Mile Morrisseau Pope Francis tells thousands gathered at Maskwacis he is sorry but the question remains: 'What's next?’ ... continue reading

[AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia]

Tuesday, July 26

'It's going to take a long time' By Miles Morrisseau The Pope’s apology brings renewed calls for reconciliation, reparations ... continue reading

[Photo by Miles Morrisseau/ICT]