Keith Gerein: Catholic leaders raise hopes, skepticism with new promises toward reconciliation

Edmonton Archbishop Richard Smith takes part in a press conference where Angelina (Angie) Crerar and Gary Gagnon were introduced as Alberta indigenous delegates who will travel to Vatican City this month to meet with Pope Francis, in Edmonton Thursday Dec. 2, 2021. Photo by David Bloom Photo by David Bloom David Bloom /David Bloom/Postmedia

When I hear the phrase “suffer no fools” — an idiom that apparently originated with a Christian apostle — I often think of my grandfather.

He was a man with a generous heart and lively sense of humour, but also an impatient conviction that didn’t make much room for shades of grey.

There was a very clear mindset of how the world divided into right and wrong, and if you ventured an opinion or exhibited behaviour that strayed into the latter category, he let you know about it, often loudly.

A rural upbringing and years in the air force were undoubtedly influential to this, but I suspect it was most closely reflective of his lifelong devotion to Catholicism.

Grandpa died in 2008. Sometimes I regret never finding the courage to ask him if his faith had ever been shaken. And were he alive today, I’d be curious to know how he would try to reconcile fidelity to a moral authority guilty of grievous moral failings — including a central role in Canada’s residential school system.

Of course, a reckoning of this nature should have occurred long ago, given that residential schools were official government and church policy for most of my grandfather’s lifetime.

But since that didn’t happen, such questions are at least arising now, in part because of the overdue awakening our country is experiencing, and in part because one of the slowest to open their eyes has been the Catholic church.

This goes back awhile. At times, church representatives have come across as shockingly obtuse by highlighting the supposed positive aspects of the school system, or otherwise suggesting that it was all designed with good intentions.

I can recall one exchange years ago with a clergy leader who defensively insisted those alleging abuse and assimilation were blowing things out of proportion.

Likewise, attempts to have the church follow through on funding commitments to school survivors have proven unnecessarily difficult, as have efforts to get Catholic groups to turn over historical records .

All things considered, this is an institution that has appeared to be more interested in protecting its own assets and reputation rather truly investing in reconciliation.

However, and I say this with some trepidation, 2021 has felt like a bit of a turning point.

In September, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops apologized to Indigenous Canadians , then pledged to raise $30 million to support survivors . Assistance to find more unmarked graves was also promised, while certain Catholic groups seem to have developed more helpful attitudes around requests for records.

“Even as we speak about instances of good, that doesn’t allow us to turn that into defending the indefensible,” Edmonton Archbishop Richard Smith told me. “It was assimilationist in its essence and actions and the more we think that through, that’s what we really have to grapple with as a church and as a Canadian society.”

Related to all this is that Pope Francis has invited delegations of First Nations, Metis and Inuit to meet with him at the Vatican later this month. In part, the meetings are to discuss the terms of a future Papal visit to Canada.

The archdiocese last week introduced two members of the Metis delegation — Angie Crerar, 85, an elder and school survivor from Grande Prairie; and St. Albert resident Gary Gagnon, who has served in a number of leadership roles.

It was a news conference of complex emotions, but a couple of key themes emerged.

Angelina (Angie) Crerar takes part in a news conference on Thursday, Dec. 2, 2021, where she was introduced as one of three Alberta Indigenous delegates who will travel to Vatican City this month to meet with Pope Francis. Photo by David Bloom /Postmedia

For Crerar and Gagnon, both talked about the importance of a formal apology from the Pope as part of his visit. At the same time, they conveyed how much the Papal invite meant to them, with Crerar calling the Pope “the most important person in the world,” and Gagnon characterizing the visit as a “pilgrimage” and “great gift.”

If nothing else, these were expressions of continued faith in Catholicism. Crerar and Gagnon, like many other Indigenous Canadians, have clearly found ways to reconcile that dilemma I posed earlier, about maintaining devotion to an institution that claims dominion over right and wrong while acting undeserving of that authority.

Now, the onus is on Pope Francis and the church to sustain that faith by making good on the expectations they have raised. This cannot be another exercise in half-truths and unreliable promises, and there is a lot of skepticism to overcome.

A full-throated apology from the Pope is the main requirement for some survivors. For others, more is needed.

The Pope has the power, for example, to help raise the millions promised and keep the money coming as necessary.

He could ensure access to all relevant church records. He could guarantee to promote only Catholic leaders truly committed to reconciliation. He could make regular check-ins to find out how the work is going, and help more Canadians to understand this painful history.

I have no idea how my devout grandfather, and his sharp moral compass, would have regarded all this.

But I do know that people like him who have no time for fools, they also tend to harshly reject being treated as such. Redemption and forgiveness, two pretty big themes in Catholicism, go hand in hand with contrition.

In other words, good intentions won’t be good enough this time, and the church would do well to remember its expertise on the place where such intentions lead.

Source: EdmontonJournal

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