A decade after the TRC, Canadian churches still have some homework

It’s been 10 years since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission completed its work. The three commissioners offered 10 principles to guide reconciliation efforts, along with 94 calls to action, addressed to governments, churches and the media, and designed to move Canada toward reconciliation. Progress, in general, has been slow: with 15 completed.

Six calls to action were aimed at the churches (Anglican, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic and United Church) that operated residential schools and are parties to the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement.

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It should be noted that the calls contain language that invites other churches to participate. I am aware of at least two denominations — the Christian Reformed Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada — that did not operate residential schools but have actively embraced the calls by participating in reconciliation efforts.

A quick scan of Canadian denominational websites indicates that most churches are addressing Indigenous issues to some degree. In this sense, the TRC has been successful because it has helped raise the visibility of Indigenous issues and the need to engage in intentional reconciliation efforts. But there is still work to do, including around Indigenous spiritual self-determination.

Here’s a summary of where things stand:

Call to action 46: Covenant of reconciliation — Incomplete

This call requests that the parties to the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement develop and sign a Covenant of Reconciliation that advances reconciliation in Canada by adopting and implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). One would think that, with their expertise in creating covenants, the churches could offer some leadership on this item. Furthermore, the idea behind the covenant was that other organizations could formally join it.

Call to action 48: Adoption of UNDRIP — Formally adopted, but not applied

This call requests that the mainline churches formally adopt the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) as their framework for reconciliation. Although several denominations and Christian institutions — including the Anglican, United, and Presbyterian churches, as well as the Canadian Jesuits and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops — have formally adopted the framework, actually applying the document to decision-making has been slower.

Article 12 of UNDRIP pertains to the freedom to practise one’s spiritual and religious traditions without interference. In response, the Anglican, Presbyterian and United churches have established various Indigenous bodies within their unique organizational structures.

Unfortunately, the right to complete self-determination in spiritual matters remains aspirational, in part because of the need to develop leadership within Indigenous religious communities. These denominations are already working to raise Indigenous spiritual leaders — ministers who are steeped in both Indigenous spiritual traditions and Christianity — who can serve their communities.

Call to action 58: Papal apology — Complete, with short-comings

This call pushes the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church to apologize for their part in the residential school system. With the encouragement of the other churches, Pope Francis travelled to Canada in 2022 to offer an apology to residential school survivors. He recognized the abuses experienced at residential schools that resulted in cultural destruction, loss of life and ongoing trauma experienced by Indigenous Peoples in every region of Canada — but stopped short of accepting responsibility for the actions of staff in the Catholic schools.

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Call to action 59: Educating congregations — Complete

This call states that churches must educate their congregations on why the apologies were necessary. Faith groups were tasked with developing curricula to educate their membership about residential schools and the churches’ roles in the system. Congregations have excelled. I suspect it would be difficult to find a faith where knowledge of the residential school system and its shortcomings had not been shared.

Most of the mainline churches are also members of KAIROS Canada, an ecumenical coalition that works for environmental and social justice. KAIROS has a tool, the Blanket Exercise, that weaves Indigenous and colonial Canadian history together. Many congregations have used this interactive experience to relearn Canadian history.

Call to action 60: Educating future ministers — Complete

This call asks that seminaries teach future church leaders to understand and respect Aboriginal spirituality, as well as the history of residential schools, the legacy of religious conflict in Aboriginal families and communities, and the churches’ responsibility to mitigate such clashes and prevent spiritual violence. Seminaries are including such education in their core curriculum for non-Indigenous seminarians. Indigenous seminarians are given more intensive training in dealing with the social breakdown that has resulted from residential schools. The churches are aware that ministers serving in Indigenous communities must be trained in social service work, alongside the sacraments.

Call to action 61: Permanent funding for healing projects — In progress, more funding needed

This call urges permanent funding to Aboriginal people for community-controlled healing and reconciliation projects, culture and language revitalization, relationship building, regional delegates and youth to discuss Indigenous spirituality, self-determination and reconciliation. Call 61 could go a long way toward addressing the damage done by the residential schools. Funding for culture, particularly language revitalization, is the most urgent. Language contains the details of a culture. To lose an elder language-speaker is to lose an entire library of stories, ways of understanding and rituals.

Have the recommendations of the TRC, in the form of the calls to action, made a difference in Canadian society? I’d suggest that 10 years in is too early to tell. The federal government has much more work to do, but its various departments have been slow to take up the calls to action.

However, I have hope. When I see young adults studying and completing their education, I see strong leaders. When I examine academic institutions, the legal profession and band leadership, I see young professionals poised to take the reins and ready to make significant changes to Canadian society in the coming years.

And the churches? They need to take the necessary steps to ensure that they, too, have Indigenous leadership ready to lead the Indigenous church. And then, the churches need to step back and let them lead.

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Rev. Teresa Burnett-Cole is a congregational minister at Glebe-St. James United in Ottawa. She is of both Indigenous and settler ancestry.