As the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was wrapping up its work in 2015, commission chair Justice Murray Sinclair repeated over and over, “Education got us into this mess and education will get us out.”

OTTAWA – Archbishop Gerard Pettipas recalls the “celebratory feel” 10 years ago when Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologized for the government’s Indian residential schools policy.

OTTAWA – The Minister of Indigenous Affairs has asked the Our Lady of Guadalupe Circle, a coalition of Catholic groups, to help government efforts to obtain a papal apology for the Church’s role in residential schools.

Indian residential schools were established by Canada’s federal government, but Christian churches, including the Catholic Church, bought into the plan with enthusiasm.

OTTAWA – Those on the front lines of reconciliation are hopeful Pope Francis will say what needs to be said at the right time, in spite of the “pressure” that has been put on a papal apology on Canadian soil.

When we arrived here, we took their land. Then we took their children. In 2018, we’re taking away the hope of sincere reconciliation.

OTTAWA – In a rare show of unanimity, the House of Commons has overwhelmingly supported a motion to call on Pope Francis to apologize on Canadian soil for abuses that occurred at church-run residential schools.

OTTAWA – A House of Commons motion to formally ask Pope Francis to apologize on Canadian soil for the Church’s role in residential school abuses appears set to pass with near unanimous consent.

Why won’t Pope Francis issue a formal apology for the Catholic Church’s role in Canada’s residential school system? 

There is a deeply Catholic sense of hope in standing on history’s shore watching a major wave break while sensing another building, barely visible, on the horizon.

OTTAWA –  Assembly of First Nations Chief Perry Bellegarde wants a face-to-face meeting to ask Pope Francis to reconsider his rejection of a call to come to Canada to issue a formal apology to Indigenous peoples.

EDMONTON – Reconciliation with Church a struggle, says former AFN chief Fontaine.

After decades of turbulent history with the Catholic Church, Indigenous peoples are now committed to healing the fractured relationship, says the former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations.

Canadians are sitting firmly on the fence when asked whether a papal apology for the sins of the residential school era would do any good in reconciling Indigenous Canadians with the immigrant majority. But Aboriginal Catholics are certain an apology from the Pope on Canadian soil would mark a new beginning after a long, sad history of colonization, racism and neglect.

I’ve long been fascinated by political correctness and how it often has a life of its own; either ignoring facts or not bothering to find facts before going off half-cocked.

OTTAWA – Canada’s bishops are being tight-lipped regarding a possible papal visit in the wake of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s request that Pope Francis apologize in Canada for the Church’s role in the residential school scandal.