Remorse and reparations are what makes apologies real

The Pope's apology is only the first step. The Catholic Church needs to take many more steps to show remorse and make reparations.

Pope Francis, pictured at the Vatican on April 1, 2022, apologizing to Indigenous people in Canada for the 'deplorable' abuses they were forced to endure in Canada's Catholic-run residential schools. A delegation of Indigenous people from Canada was at the Vatican, but the Pope said he hopes to deliver an apology in Canada in late July. More than 150,000 Indigenous children were forced to attend the government-funded Christian schools for almost 100 years, and many children were abused, beaten, and sexually assaulted. Screen capture courtesy CBC News

Opinion

BY ROSE LEMAY

April 11, 2022

OTTAWA—What makes a good apology? The senior leader needs to make the apology to show responsibility. The apology needs to be public to show honesty. Humans are highly adept in evaluating authenticity, that’s important. There’s also an art about the timing of an apology. And then there’s the...

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