Elder Fernie Marty on choosing healing within Catholic church
Posted July 19, 2022 10:59 am.
When the leader of the Catholic Church visits Edmonton next week to apologize for the legacy of residential schools, it’s a moment that will be essential in the personal healing of Papaschase First Nation Elder Fernie Marty.
“Yes, I heard his apology in Rome, and yes that was meaningful,” the day school survivor said Monday, “however for me, this is where all the atrocities happened, and it’s much more meaningful coming from Canadian soil.”
Marty says until recently, he had repressed his experience at federally run Indian Day Schools, only reminded of his childhood experience when a friend found his name on a list of those eligible for compensation in a federal class action lawsuit.
“I got to go home at the end of the day. That’s the only difference. We had some of the same atrocities happen to us in day school.”
Segregated state-sponsored Indian Day Schools and Indian Residential Schools were seen as a significant tool used to assimilate Indigenous populations in Canada by removing them from their language and cultures. Often run in partnership with Christian churches, including Anglican, Catholic, Methodist, and Presbyterian.
Many students reported trauma, and in some cases, physical and sexual abuse.
RELATED:
- Confederacy of Treaty 6 First Nations overwhelmed by those looking to attend Papal visit
- Pope asks for prayers ahead of Canada trip which will include apology to Indigenous groups
- Big crowds, road closures, and heavy security expected for Pope’s visit to Alberta
Elder Marty has been working closely with the Archdiocese of Edmonton ahead of Pope Francis’ visit to Canada as an Elder at Sacred Heart Church of the First People. The Indigenous-focused church is one of Francis’ four official stops in Alberta.
“It’s a tremendous opportunity for the healing of this nation.”
Marty recognizes each individual is on their own healing journey when it comes to the legacy of residential schools, understanding that some are not looking forward to the papal visit.
“I don’t want to carry that bitterness and hatred, for me as an individual. I choose not to. I choose to walk towards whatever that healing may look like.”
When the Sacred Heart Church reopened for the first mass following an extensive rebuild Sunday, Marty felt optimism the healing has already reached others.
“I saw people who haven’t been in this church for over 20 years, now come here (Sunday), wanting to come home.”
Sacred Heart still held mass at a separate location in the two years following a non-suspicious fire, while the church was stripped of asbestos and rebuilt, however, Marty noticed some stop attending in the summer of 2021 after the discovery of unmarked graves at former residential school sites.
“When they found all the missing bodies of the children… (they) pulled away from the church, now they are coming back.”
