The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops formally apologized Friday for the mistreatment and trauma of Native Americans in the United States, particularly the church's role in church-run boarding schools that attempted to forcibly assimilate Native American children into American culture.
Since the 19th century, hundreds of thousands of Native American children have been removed from their families and sent to schools where they often faced abuse, neglect and hard labor. Of the more than 500 Native American residential schools established across the country, most were established with federal involvement or assistance, but 87 were run by the Catholic Church, according to a document by the investigative group Catholic Truth and Healing.
“Many Indigenous family systems never fully recovered from these tragedies and families were often torn apart by addiction, domestic violence, abandonment and neglect,” the bishops wrote in a 56-page document released Friday called the “Pastoral Framework.” “The Church acknowledges its role in the trauma experienced by Indigenous children.”
More broadly, the document states the mistreatment of Native Americans and apologizes for “failing to nurture, strengthen, honor, recognize and appreciate those entrusted to our pastoral care.”
Nick Tilsen, chief executive of the Native American advocacy group NDN Collective and a member of the Oglala Lakota tribe, said the bishops' apology seemed half-hearted.
“An admission of this magnitude must be accompanied by action,” Tilsen said. “Without action, you are literally saying, 'Sorry, but I'm not sorry.'”
He noted the document mixes acknowledgments of harm done to Native children with assertions of the positive impact some schools have had, such as protecting Alaskan children orphaned by disease.
“Just apologize,” Tilsen said. “How many times have we taught our kids, 'You can't say I'm sorry and then, but…'”
The pastoral document includes a number of recommendations for the church to face its past and reconcile with Native Americans, including digging up and sharing historical records and cooperating with investigations of abuses.
“If the Church desires reconciliation with Native American communities, it must first foster a sense of trust,” the bishops wrote, “which must have a similar desire for reconciliation on the part of those communities.”
This is not the first time the Catholic Church has acknowledged its role in the mistreatment of Indigenous people in North America: During a visit to Canada in 2022, Pope Francis apologized for the church's role in similar treatment of Indigenous people by the Canadian government.
“I am sorry,” Pope Francis said at the time, “and I ask for forgiveness, especially for the collaboration, not only out of indifference, but also by members of many churches and religious communities, in a program of cultural destruction and forced assimilation promoted by the government of the time, which culminated in the boarding school system.”