'An apology is just words': Indigenous delegates hope for action following meetings with Pope

Indigenous leaders and residential school survivors were at the Vatican Monday for meetings with the Pope.

The delegations are seeking accountability for the abuses thousands of Indigenous children suffered at the hands of the Catholic Church. Indigenous people have waited decades for the opportunity and while talks have reportedly gone well so far, the delegates stress this is only the beginning of a long journey toward reconciliation.

"Reconciliation did not begin today with a meeting with Pope Francis and it doesn't end here either. This is just one stepping stone on that journey,” said Cassidy Caron, president of the Metis National Council. Eight Metis delegates spent an hour with the pontiff where three survivors shared their stories of residential schools.

“I come here today, holding up survivors. But I also come here today with a voice of lost children and the children that have been lost,” said Pixie Wells, a member of the delegation from Abbotsford.

The group presented Pope Francis with a pair of red, beaded moccasins as a sign of the Metis people's willingness to forgive, if there is meaningful action. They say Francis seemed kind and receptive.

The Inuit delegation had to opportunity to meet with the pontiff afterward and First Nations delegates have their own meeting on Thursday. All three delegations are scheduled to gather with the Pope on Friday for a public meeting. They are hoping he will commit to apologizing for the Roman Catholic Church's role in residential schools during a trip to Canada, but a date for that trip has not been set.

“An apology is just words and we then need action to follow that and part of those actions,” said Caron.

“I’ve spoken about that we need action within truth, reconciliation, justice and healing and for truth, part of that will be providing unfettered access to church and residential school records so that we're able to piece together our history in a better way to know where our families were when their children were taken from them.”

An estimated 150,000 Indigenous children were forced to attend residential schools, more than 60 per cent of which were run by the Catholic Church.