Truth and Apology

The story of humanity in the Bible is one of sin – humans rejecting and deviating from God’s perfect holiness. The Apostle Paul reminds us that all sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). The Biblical narrative is also one of a merciful God as we humbly acknowledge confess the transgressions. Confession, from the Hebrew yadhah means ‘acknowledge’ or ‘avowal’ – an honest admission, affirmation, and declaration of the truth. The etymology of the Latin confession, from its Greek equivalent, means ‘with’ and places the act in harmony with others; it is uniting in the statement made by someone else. God assures his faithfulness in forgiveness when we confess – speak truth about – our sins (1 John 1:9). Sin, however, is not solely spiritual, but often inseparably relational: since the days of Adam and Eve, disobedience to God and his good laws has wreaked havoc and conflict upon families, communities, and nations. For this reason, the Apostle James calls followers of Christ to confession of sins to one another (James 5:20).

Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission was created in 2008 for this reason – to hear the testimonies of 6,750 Indigenous people who survived or were impacted by the Indian Residential Schools, and to publicly affirm the truths revealed about schools’ origins, abuses and legacies. The Final Reports, completed in 2015, are a worthy read for all Canadians (and even beyond our borders); the Summary is a good place to start. Even before the TRC, three church denominations that ran Indian Residential School (Anglican, Presbyterian, and United Churches) recognized and acknowledged their role and complicity in the abuses against Indigenous peoples through public apologies. Individual Catholic dioceses have also made apologies. These apologies are also worth reading in full; but a few notable excerpts follow:
  • This confession is our response to the word of God… It is with humility and in great sorrow that we come before God and our Aboriginal brothers and sisters with our confession. – Presbyterian Church, 1994
  • We tried to make you in our own image. – Anglican Church, 1993
  • We tried to make you be like us, and in so doing, we helped destroy the vision that made you what you were. – United Church, 1986
  • [We] offer this apology for our cultural and spiritual arrogance toward all Indigenous Peoples… [we] confess our sin in failing to acknowledge that as First Peoples living here for thousands of years, you had a spiritual relationship with the Creator and the Land. We did not care enough to learn how your spirituality has always infused your governance, social structures and family life. [We] confess the sin in demonizing Indigenous spiritualities and belittling the traditional teachings… in dismissing Indigenous Spiritualities and disciplines as incompatible with the Gospel of Jesus… in robbing your children and youth the opportunity to know their spiritual ancestry. We were so full of our own self-importance. We were ignorant. We were insensitive. We offended you. We offended the Creator. – Anglican Church, 1999
  • We acknowledge that the roots of the harm we have done are found in the attitudes and values of western European colonialism… As part of that policy we, with other churches, encouraged the government to ban some important spiritual practices through which Aboriginal peoples experienced the presence of the creator God. For the Church’s complicity in this policy, we ask forgiveness. – Presbyterian Church, 1994.
  • [The Church] used… exploitation in physical and psychological punishment beyond any Christian maxim of care and discipline… there was opportunity for sexual abuse, and some were so abused…. We regret there are those whose lives have been deeply scarred. – Presbyterian Church, 1994
  • We apologize for the existence of the [residential] schools themselves, recognizing that the biggest abuse was not what happened in the schools but that the schools themselves happened… that primal bond inherent within families was violated as a matter of policy… these schools operated out of the premise that European languages, traditions, and religious practices were superior… The residential schools were an attempt to assimilate aboriginal peoples and we played an important role in the unfolding of this design. We apologize for the part we played in the cultural, ethnic, linguistic, and religious imperialism… We were… part of this mentality and were, in fact, often a key player in its implementation. – Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, 2001
  • With humility [we] ask our Church to turn to the Creator seeking guidance and steadfastness of will in our efforts to heal the spiritual wounds we have inflicted. – Anglican Church, 1999
Questions to consider:
  • What elements of the church apologies resonate with me?
  • What might a prayer of confession look like for me personally as I learn about colonial/Indigenous history and present realities?




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