Residential school survivors reflect on the legacy of Pope Francis

WARNING: This story contains details of experiences at residential schools.

The first time Piita Irniq was on a plane he was 11 and was taken more than 400 kilometres from his family and the only place he had ever known. 

"I left a little Inuit boy, all dressed up in Inuit traditional clothing, sealskin boots," said Irniq. 

He was taken from Naujaat, Nunavut, along with many other children and brought to Catholic-run Turquetil Hall in Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut, to attend school. 

"That same day, I became a little white boy," said Irniq. 

For more than 30 years, Irniq has sought justice from the Catholic Church for survivors of residential school, and was part of a delegation to Rome in 2009 to speak with Pope Benedict. 

But Pope Francis is the one that earned Irniq's respect. 

"He took a courageous move and came to Canada to meet with the Indigenous people of Canada," said Irniq.

"I respect him for that." 

Francis, the first Pope from Latin America and the first from the Jesuit order, died on Monday morning, the Vatican said.

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina became known as Pope Francis when he was elected in March 2013. 

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, in its 2015 calls to action, called upon the Pope to come to Canada to deliver an apology to residential school survivors, their families and communities for the Roman Catholic Church's role in the abuse of First Nations, Inuit and Métis children in Catholic-run residential schools.

The Catholic Church ran over half of the residential schools in Canada. 

Francis came to Canada in July 2022 on a "penitential pilgrimage" that included an apology "for the evil committed by so many Christians against the Indigenous peoples."

The visit included stops in Alberta, Quebec, and Iqaluit.

Irniq was a cultural organizer for the Iqaluit leg of the papal visit. 

He gave Francis an Inuit hand drum, and performed a drum dance on stage before the Pope spoke to the crowd in Iqaluit. 

Irniq was also part of a small group of survivors who had a private meeting with Francis, where he said he did his best to speak on behalf of his parents, and all the other parents who had children taken from them. 

"As a survivor, his visit still has an impact, a lot of impact, with the way I think about [Pope Francis]," said Irniq. 

'I can't say enough how grateful I am'

Francis's visit and apology also had an impact on Métis elder Angie Crerar, a survivor of St. Joseph's residential school in Fort Resolution, N.W.T.

"I can't say enough how grateful I am of that," said Crerar. 

Crerar was part of the Métis National Council's delegation to Rome in 2022 where she met Francis, an experience she says was life-changing. 

"[I] was so angry and I hated everyone, especially the Catholic Church and also the government," said Crerar. 

But she said when she met Francis and told him about her experience at residential school she felt the anger leave her body, and she started to feel at peace. 

"I learned right then and now how to forgive," said Crerar. 

Not enough action from church, says survivor

At the time of the apology, former Truth and Reconciliation Commission chair Murray Sinclair was critical of the Pope's statement, saying it had "left a deep hole in the acknowledgement of the full role of the Church in the residential school system, by placing blame on individual members of the Church."

"It was more than the work of a few bad actors — this was a concerted institutional effort to remove children from their families and cultures, all in the name of Christian supremacy," he said in a statement.

Some residential school survivors say the papal visit did little for their healing and his words meant little. 

"Healing requires action, and there has been no action," said Evelyn Korkmaz, a survivor of St. Anne's residential school in Fort Albany, Ont., and a founder of Advocates for Clergy Trauma Survivors in Canada. 

When Korkmaz met Francis in Quebec during his 2022 visit, she said she gave him a box and asked him to put the documents on those who attended residential school in it and send it back to Canada. 

She said she hasn't seen the box since. 

"We need them to release the documents that they hold in Rome so we can find our loved ones that have been buried in our schoolyards and find out how they died," said Korkmaz. 

Real justice, said Korkmaz, comes in the form of accountability and for the church to give up the members who carried out abuse toward Indigenous people. 

"They need to pay for their crimes, just like any one of us would have to pay if we did something like this," said Korkmaz. 

Reconciliation bigger than Pope Francis 

Kukpi7 (Chief) Rosanne Casimir of Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc has been at the forefront of advocating for accountability from the Catholic Church. 

The findings of more than 200 possible unmarked graves at the site of Kamloops Indian Residential School sparked a nationwide movement to search the grounds of former residential schools. 

Casimir went to the Vatican in 2022 as part of the Assembly of First Nations delegation, to advocate for the children that went missing at residential schools. Casimir said the new pope will need to make clear mandates and commitments to Indigenous people.

"Reconciliation with Indigenous people in the Catholic Church transcends any single person, and it is a journey that all of us can take a role in," said Casimir.

A national 24-hour Indian Residential School Crisis Line is available at 1-866-925-4419 for emotional and crisis referral services for survivors and those affected. 

Mental health counselling and crisis support are also available 24 hours a day, seven days a week through the Hope for Wellness hotline at 1-855-242-3310 or by online chat.