'I felt in my heart, the Pope really means it'; Sask. residential school survivors react to papal apology

Residential school survivors from Saskatchewan who travelled to Maskwacis, Alta., say they were moved to hear Pope Francis apologize for the part the Roman Catholic Church played in the forced assimilation of Indigenous children at residential schools in Canada.

Pope Francis, battling mobility issues, was pushed in a wheelchair to the Ermineskine Cree Nation Cemetery on Monday morning, listening to the drum and song of Jerry Saddleback. 

He paused in the cemetery for a silent prayer before he was moved to the powwow arbour in Maskwacis, where he was greeted by a large crowd of people from across the country who gathered in the community south of Edmonton, Alta.

The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation's red banner, depicting the names of those who have been identified as dying in residential schools, was brought into the centre of the powwow arbour and displayed in front of the Pope. 

He offered his apology, saying he was "deeply sorry" for the many Catholics and other Christians who supported the colonization mentality of the governments responsible for oppression of Indigneous people.

"I ask forgiveness, in particular, for the ways in which many members of the church and of religious communities co-operated, not least through their indifference, in projects of cultural destruction and forced assimilation promoted by the governments of that time, which culminated in the system of residential schools," Francis said.

The final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission stated Christian missionaries laid the foundation of Canada's residential system by founding the earliest residential schools in Canada. 

Between 1883 and 1969 the churches and the federal government jointly operated the institutions.

For survivors from Saskatchewan who travelled to Alberta, the Pope's closest stop, Monday was a day of emotion and reflection. 

Maureen Bellanger travelled to Maskwacis from Île-à-la-Crosse, Sask. to hear the Pope speak. After he offered his apology she said she was still digesting what had happened. 

"For the leader of the Catholic organization to come here and ask us for an apology and to forgive him, it was absolutely beautiful," she said. "While he was apologizing you can't help but think of all the spirits who are at unrest."

She noted the boarding school in Île-à-la-Crosse was a provincially run institution as opposed to a federally run one — as many other residential schools were — and as a result she and other survivors from the village were still waiting to tell their stories and start their healing journey.

Bellanger says she started questioning her beliefs when the discovery of possible unmarked graves was announced at Kamloops, B.C., last summer, so the Pope's apology was emotional for her.

Yvonne Longworth, also from Île-à-la-Crosse, says she had tears in her eyes throughout the Pope's statement.