‘Work to be done’: 1 year after residential schools apology, Vatican rejects Doctrine of Discovery

Warning: This story deals with disturbing subject matter that may upset and trigger some readers. Discretion is advised. Around this time last year, Métis historian and educator Mitchell Case exited the grounds of St.

Peter’s Basilica, one of the holiest Catholic shrines in the world, after just having met Pope Francis. In a news conference televised all over the world, wearing beadwork of his own design, and through tears, Case lauded the courage and persistence of Métis residential school survivors.

In many ways, for many years, he said at the time, they had never “been invited to say anything” about the horrors they endured or the trauma that ensued. “I think the last year has been really empowering for Indigenous peoples,” Case told Global News in an interview on Thursday. “Some really hardcore, dedicated survivors from Indigenous communities across Canada made this happen and I think that needs to be what we take from it — the power of what can be accomplished when we stand together and seek justice.” Read more: Vatican formally renounces Discovery Doctrine after decades of Indigenous demands On Thursday, the Vatican announced it has formally repudiated the Doctrine of Discovery, a legal framework based on 15th century papal bulls that gave early Christian explorers permission to conquer, displace and enslave non-Christian Indigenous Peoples.

Rescinding the doctrine was one of the calls of a historic delegation of Indigenous peoples to Rome last spring urging the Catholic Church to atone for its role in Canada’s harrowing residential school system.