Indigenous elder in Windsor fears Pope's visit to Canada may restore trauma, feelings of abuse

Theresa Sims, an elder at Ska:na Family Learning Centre in Windsor, Ont., on Friday, July 22, 2022. (Sanjay Maru/CTV News Windsor)

While many see the upcoming visit of Pope Francis to Canada as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to advance reconciliation between the Roman Catholic Church and Indigenous communities, an Indigenous elder in Windsor says the Papal visit is more akin to a victim of abuse coming face-to-face with their attacker.

"It's the trauma of our children being lost. Can you imagine when your children were kidnapped, taken and you never saw them again?" said Theresa Sims, elder at Ska:na Family Learning Centre in Windsor.

With two days to go before the Pope's arrival, many people are already making plans to head to Edmonton to see him this weekend.

During his visit, the Pope is expected to apologize to First Nations on their land for the role of the Catholic Church in Canada's residential school system and the years of suffering and abuse that so many endured.

But for Sims, she fears the visit may do more to restore feelings of trauma throughout the Indigenous community as the effects of the residential school system continue to be felt by so many.

The last federally-funded residential school, Kivalliq Hall in Rankin Inlet, closed in 1997.

Among her issues with the Pope's visit, Sims said, is who's paying for it.

"It's his apology,” said Sims. “It's his responsibility. So why isn't he paying for it? We're putting out 35 million dollars, Canadian taxpayers, for this."

Other Indigenous leaders, however, believe the Papal visit to Canada will mark the first true step toward reconciliation.

By him coming to our soil, by him coming to our lands and apologizing, it's going to mean a lot to us," said Red River Métis Nation of the Prairies president David Chartrand.

"It's not the Bible doing this. It's not the church doing this. It's individuals that are the cloak of the church that did this."

But while Sims agrees the visit is a good first step toward healing, she said the Pope needs to express concrete action that he and the church will take ⁠— beyond giving a simple apology.

"What would you do if you found a rapist and what would your next steps be for a rapist or murderer to make amends to our families?" she said.

"Open those archives. Because they have archives of pictures. They have the list have the children that went to those schools. Bring them back here so we can identify those poor, lost children that are in those unmarked graves and bring them back home."

According to Sims, it is imperative that Indigenous remains are brought back to their families so their loved ones can perform traditional ceremonies in their culture.

"Now, we can do them and give them that connection and that closure that's needed. For 150 years, we haven't had closure. There's a lot of pain and agony going on," she said, adding it's not surprising that so many Indigenous Christians may be looking forward to the Papal visit.

"With hostage syndrome, a lot of them have been assimilated into the Catholic Church, because it was survival. Of course they're going to be happy, because they don't know anything else."