"Love means never having to say you're sorry" is a famous 1970's catchphrase based on a line from both the 1970 romance novel by Erich Segal, and film, Love Story, starring Ali MacGraw and Ryan O'Neal. In 2005, it finished 13th on the American Film Institute's list of 100 top movie quotes of all time.
Taken in context in both the novel and movie, it's an accurate sentiment as it's expressed. But in the larger real world, it's not always true. In fact, just the opposite is often more likely true: love, indeed, means saying you're sorry. Just ask the Catholic Church.
Both Archdiocese of Keewatin-Le Pas Archbishop emeritus Sylvain Lavoie and Archbishop Murray Chatlain, as the spiritual shepherds of Roman Catholics in the archdiocese, have been quite rightly at pains to apologize in recent years for the Roman Catholic Church's involvement in Canada's Indian Residential School system, which operated between 1857 and 1996.
More than 150,000 First Nations, Métis and Inuit children were taken from their homes by the federal government and sent to church-run Indian Residential Schools, where rampant abuse occurred and at least 3,000 children died, while many more were subjected to emotional and physical abuse.
The Archdiocese of Keewatin-Le Pas takes in some 430,000 square kilometres and comprises the northern parts of Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario. The farthest point west is La Loche, Saskatchewan, near the Alberta border. The farthest point north is Lac Brochet here in Manitoba and the farthest point east is Sandy Lake in Northwestern Ontario. The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) established the first mission at Ile-À-la-Crosse, Sask. in 1860.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Keewatin-Le Pas was involved in four Indian Residential Schools - two in Saskatchewan and two here in Northern Manitoba - at Beauval, Sturgeon Landing, Guy Hill and Cross Lake. Both Saskatchewan Indian Residential Schools burned down. Beauval Indian Residential School, located in Beauval, Saskatchewan, about 400 kilometres north of Saskatoon, opened in 1895 and closed in 1983. It was operated by Grey Nuns. The original school burned down in September 1927, killing Sister Lea Bellerose and 19 boys - almost half the student population - from the ages of 7 to 12. The school was rebuilt in 1931.
Sturgeon Landing Indian Residential School in Saskatchewan, about 50 kilometres southwest of Flin Flon, was operated between 1926 and 1952 by the Sisters of Saint Joseph and the Oblates. It was destroyed by fire in September 1952 and the federal government decided not to rebuild it. Guy Hill Indian Residential School in The Pas operated between 1955 and 1974, while Cross Lake Indian Residential School operated between 1915 and 1942.
Through the Corporation of Catholic Entities Party to the Indian Residential Schools Settlement the Archdiocese of Keewatin-Le Pas, operating as the Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of Keewatin, was obligated to provide $1 million in cash over five years, $1.6 million of in-kind services and community work over 10 years, as well as support the fundraising Canada-wide campaign of the Corporation of Catholic Entities Party to the Indian Residential Schools Settlement. The archdiocese met its $1 million in cash obligation by paying out $200,000 a year beginning in 2007 and ending in 2011 and surpassed the $1.6 million required for in-kind services.
The Corporation of Catholic Entities Party to the Indian Residential Schools Settlement was created in 2006 to oversee the undertakings of the group of 54 Catholic dioceses and religious congregations party to the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement, as there was no one central Catholic entity, unlike the Anglican, Presbyterian and United Churches, who are also parties to the agreement, to enter into negotiations or reach an agreement with.
Indian Residential Schools operated in every province and territory except Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Newfoundland. The system was at its height in the 1920s with compulsory attendance under the Indian Act and over 80 schools in operation. Roman Catholic vicariate apostolics, archdioceses, dioceses and religious congregations ran 70 per cent of the Indian Residential Schools.
Lavoie has described the Indian Residential Schools as "a system that is now acknowledged as a flawed policy of colonization and assimilation." In a Dec. 17, 2009 pastoral letter, Lavoie wrote: "We would encourage those from our archdiocese who attended the schools, or had family members and relatives who attended, to contribute to the [Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission] process, so that the historical record can be accurate. Whereas over the past few years many held back from sharing positive experiences out of fear of being politically incorrect, now is the time to speak your truth so that it is heard and recorded." The Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission held two days of hearings in Thompson in September 2012, and two days of hearings at Sagkeeng First Nation at Fort Alexander in October 2012.
In May 2009, Chatlain, while bishop of the Yellowknife-based Diocese of Mackenzie-Fort Smith, formally apologized to Dene who attended Indian Residential Schools. "I am here before you and say that I am sorry, and I ask your forgiveness for the sins of our church," told the Dene National Assembly in Inuvik.
Installed as archbishop in The Pas last March 19, Chatlain is the first non-Oblate priest to shepherd the archdiocese since its creation originally as a vicariate apostolic almost 104 years ago in March 1910.
"In my mind, what is really important today is how we are present and respond to the people who truly want healing and help," Chatlain said Feb. 4. "I pray and am working at supporting people who are on a healing journey. Addictions continue to bring so much suffering to us and our families. I pray for God's help for myself and all who want to find a healthy road to walk."
