Disappointment in papal apology?

Vincent J. Curtis

27 July 22

The most extreme expectation of a papal apology was for Pope Francis to repudiate the Church’s mission in Canada, to say that it was wrong of the Catholic Church to have deprived Canada’s aboriginal peoples of their innocence and culture.  That was never in the cards, but this expectation leads the way to declaring disappointment in the apology, and justifying continued discontent.

What is the mission of the Catholic Church in Canada?  Its primary mission is to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ, and bringing that Good News to the aboriginal peoples of Canada is something the Pope could never repudiate.  The Church’s secondary mission is to preserve and disseminate knowledge in general, a task it assumed upon the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 AD.  The teaching mission of the Church is what the government of Canada harnessed as part of its policy of Indian Affairs.  It is this aspect of the Church’s fulfillment of its teaching mission that the Pope apologized for – cooperating with the government of Canada.

The Pope’s apology made it clear that the evil (such as it is) began with the policies of the government of Canada, in complete agreement with the blame assigned and assumed by Prime Minister Trudeau himself on behalf of Canada.  The Pope also apologized for the misconduct of individual religious who did not act at all times in accordance with gospel teachings.

The disappointment expressed by some in the aboriginal community points to unrealistic expectations, or perhaps to something more personal.  “Activists have every incentive to exacerbate the problem to the fullest, because calm would be the end of their jobs,” said Thomas Sowell.

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