Canadians hear painful stories of abuse in church-run schools

Canadian Christians are hearing painful stories about abuse of aboriginal children in residential schools run by churches. At a public hearing of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) underway in the city of Montreal this week, former students are telling three aboriginal commissioners about physical, psychological and sexual abuse from teachers and other staff, including clergy and lay people.

“For many of our members, this process has opened doors to the truth of one part of our history,” says Stephen Kendall of the Presbyterian Church of Canada. “It is painful to learn that the church we know and love has caused so much pain.”

Kendall, who is a member of the Executive Committee of the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC), is in Montreal along with many other Canadian church representatives to hear testimony by residential school survivors and their children about the long-term impact of the abuse on aboriginal families and communities.

There are approximately 80,000 living survivors of the schools. Of those, nearly 50 per cent have laid criminal charges alleging abuse during their school years.

The hearing that runs from 24-27 April is the fifth in a series convened following the establishment of the TRC in 2009 as part of a compensation package agreed in response to a series of legal challenges brought against the Canadian government and four national churches by former students. The hearings are scheduled to conclude in 2014.

The objective is for former students to tell their stories as part of their own healing process as well as for the benefit of their children who often were unaware of what their parents had experienced. The hope is that the testimonies will create understanding and help restore trust within aboriginal communities damaged by alcoholism, domestic violence, drug abuse and suicide that are attributed to the impact of unacknowledged abuse.

The first of Canada’s residential schools were founded in the 1840’s. Over the years, 130 residential schools were created across the country. The Catholic, Anglican, Presbyterian and United churches staffed and managed the schools at the request of the Canadian government. The last of the schools closed in 1996.

Hundreds of church people are attending the hearings in Montreal either as volunteers or to listen to the testimonies. Some are asking how it is possible to stay involved in churches with this history.

United Church of Canada minister, Debbie Poirier, says her own ongoing commitment to the church is inspired by knowing the church is acknowledging its sin and that it is firmly resolved that such abuse will never happen again.

“We are making sure that we do everything in our power to be sure it doesn’t,” Poirier says.

James Scott of the United Church of Canada is the lead staff person coordinating the church’s involvement in the TRC. Asked what churches in other countries with histories of abuse of Indigenous peoples can learn from the Canadian experience, Scott says it is important that churches recognize that the way forward lies in accountability.

“If we want to move toward healthy societies and nations, then we must move out of denial and accept responsibility for what we have done,” Scott says.

Kendall points to the Christian church’s history of colonialism and empire building and says that reflecting on that history can be “an opportunity for tremendous growth and grace.”

Mary Fontaine, a Canadian Cree and member of WCRC’s Executive Committee, writes in a blog posting about the TRC:  “Even though things are better now, the systems of oppression are still in place.  We need the help of the church and the people. We need to work together for the good of all of us.  Let the world listen to what we are saying.  It’s a matter of life and death.”