“And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” 

What does it mean to be sorry? To some, perhaps an apology is nothing more than a mere expression of remorse. Others question whether or not apologies require subsequent action as a step toward a restored relationship to be considered genuine. 

Historically and in recent years, Catholic and Anglican leaders in Canada have offered formal apologies for their respective Churches’ role in the Residential Schools system, historic instances of antisemitism, varying cases of sexual abuse and beyond, prompting deep questions from those involved and removed from the faith alike:  Do these apologies make a real difference? What makes them genuine? Why apologize at all? 

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These are a few examples of questions grappled with by the Anglican-Roman Catholic Dialogue of Canada (ARC Canada) in their most recent resource, the Theology of Church Apologies. Co-chaired by Catholic Archbishop of Halifax-Yarmouth Brian Dunn and Anglican Bishop of Quebec Bishop Bruce Myers, the document looks to draw on Scripture, theology and historical examples of apologies and reconciliation to provide a reflective tool on the deeper meaning, power, and limits of institutional church apologies.

As explained to The Catholic Register by Archbishop Dunn, the document’s creation stems from the 2022 visits to Canada by Pope Francis and Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby. 

“It was during that time that ARC Canada wanted to reflect on apologies and how they might be of importance in today's church and today's efforts toward living out our faith,” he said. “ In lots of ways, what we would do is provide background to various individual apologies and realize that that brought about some difference, even when difficult to measure, that provided the background to a new development that was happening because of that first step.” 

While the document outlines different church apologies from both Catholic and Anglican leaders, it is perhaps that Pope Francis visit to Canada in July 2022 and his focus on apologizing for the Catholic Church's role in the Canadian Residential School System and ongoing efforts towards reconciliation with the country's Indigenous peoples that remain as the prevalent example of church apologies, at least in our country’s recent memory. 

Archbishop Dunn spoke at length about the core of ARC’s recent document: that church apologies may provide the spark for action, but without action itself, the apologies are lessened substantially. He feels this point is one directly reflected by Pope Francis's visit during the documents' early stages of creation. 

“Pope Francis' apology brought new life to a relationship with both our local Mi’kmaq community (in Halifax), but also with Indigenous communities across Canada. The apology aspect, however, does not often go far enough in the sense that we need to establish a proper relationship again. Apology is one thing, but we need to take another step to bring about reconciliation,” he said.

Some Catholics in Canada may feel that, while the Church’s historical treatment of Indigenous communities is in no way excusable and fully warrants sincere amends and steps toward healing, the inverse lack of humility on all sides discredits apologies by their very nature. 

 Christians in Canada will recall that, in the wake of the 2021 claims of 215 bodies found in graves at Kamloops Indian Residential School, later having been walked back to "anomalies,"  a substantial wave of church arsons and vandalism occurred across the country. 

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The recent Scorched Earth report from the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, citing data tabled by the government in the House of Commons, found 238 arson attacks on churches and other religious institutions between 2021 and 2023, a figure up from 152 in the prior three-year period. CBC News looked into a string of Canadian church burnings carried out between 2021 and 2023, which saw 33 such incidents. Fourteen of those fires took place on First Nations reserves, and 13 were in small or rural towns. 

Even through isolated incidents, in the sense that they were not carried out by one particular group or institution, many Indigenous and political leaders were quick to condemn the acts of perceived retaliation at a turbulent time in Catholic-Indigenous relations. That recent tension underscores one of the ARC document’s central insights — that genuine apology and subsequent forgiveness must flow in both directions for real reconciliation to be achieved.  

“We dealt with a number of Scripture passages, notably Luke 15, which tells the Parable of the Prodigal Son and the idea of him wanting to seek forgiveness while also ready to express it himself. It’s a parable that’s really trying to come toward a reconciled relationship,” Archbishop Dunn said. 

“Being able to understand the concept of forgiveness as something that is at the core of our faith, both seeking forgiveness for ourselves and forgiving others,  is an important step in the process of coming to a reconciled relationship.” 

Dr. Cody Groat, an  assistant professor of history and Indigenous studies at Western University and a member of Six Nations of the Grand River, shared his thoughts on the document — a mix of appreciation for its constructive and positive outlook and disappointment at a lack of recognition for the “structural ideologies underpinning the Anglican and Catholic Churches' role in upholding and maintaining the Residential School system.” 

“ I do believe that this report was written with good intentions, but I also think they were catering in some ways to the expected audience of a document like this. Some of the language might have been muted to some extent to be more digestible,” he said. 

Groat also took umbrage at the report's omission of sexual abuse in residential schools, a critique that was similarly raised during Pope Francis’s official apologies in 2022. The document does reference other church apologies for sexual abuse, such as Pope Benedict XVI’s 2010 public confession for church-based sexual abuse to Irish victim-survivors and families, but excludes the instances that were critiqued in Francis's apology. For Groat, it was a missed opportunity.

“ However, I do think conversations like this do need to be staggered in some way, and I think we've seen how far we've come,” he said. “From the earliest Anglican Church apologies mentioned in that document to a report like this being written in really one or two decades, that's quite substantial growth,” he added.

“This is just another step, but I think that as I iterate time and time again, the apology by Pope Francis is not the end of the conversation, the repatriation of artifacts by Pope Leo is not the end of the conversation, all of these are small steps in this much longer process.” 

ARC Canada hopes that Christians across the country will mull over these insights during personal reflection and especially through group discussion, such as in Bible study groups or parish meetings, to help people receive and apply the message to their own lived experiences. Dunn also pointed to the document’s concluded Litany for Truth and Healing as a powerful tool for reflection, especially when prayed together in community. 

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To explore the Theology of Church Apologies yourself, visit anglican.ca.