Repudiating the Doctrine of Discovery part of a larger project of relationship building, says bishop

A former bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Mackenzie-Fort Smith says the Vatican's repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery is just part of the ongoing renewal of the church's relationship with Indigenous people — and it started on the Pope's trip to Canada.

Mark Hagemoen is now the bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon. 

He traveled with residential school survivors to meet Pope Francis in Maskwacis, Alta., last summer, where he says the pope seemed "surprised" that the issue of the Doctrine of Discovery was raised. 

Hagemoen spoke with Hilary Bird, host of the CBC N.W.T.'s The Trailbreaker, Friday. 

The following has been edited for length and clarity. 

Why do you think he was so surprised that this was an issue for Indigenous leaders?

In the months preceding [the Pope's visit], there was an Indigenous delegation that visited the Vatican and they raised a number of issues that really related to residential schools and their experience of that. And I understood … that the Pope listened intently for hours to the various delegates. And so I understand he was responding, in terms of his visit, to speak to the stories he heard from the delegation that talked about residential schools, the loss of culture, the experience of colonialism. The Doctrine of Discovery, as I understand, was definitely raised at Maskwacis first at the end of the ceremony. That's when people came forward with the banners: Renounce the Doctrine.

And I just experienced him receiving that, watching that. It's just my opinion he was a bit surprised, but I also am grateful that he responded, I think, pretty forthrightly.

How do you think the Vatican can put its intention behind this into action? We've heard calls for a number of things regarding this. Do you have thoughts on that?

To tell you the truth, I have less thoughts about the Vatican and more thoughts about the Catholic Church in Canada and the dioceses that make it up. 

There has been … a renewed focus as we look at the history of things like the Doctrine of Discovery and colonialism in the 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th centuries and its effects.

The other development in the last year and a half has been the discovery of unmarked graves. And so there's a renewed emphasis on looking at how we mark the history of cemeteries approximate to residential schools, and communal efforts to mark graves or cemeteries and to have rituals and an ongoing recognition of the sacredness of those sites.

There's many other initiatives, but I think those are the practical things that are coming out of the Pope's visit. And so relationship building … is probably the biggest mark of action.

Some people would say that could start with the release of residential school records held by the Catholic Church and the federal government. What are your thoughts on that?