US Catholic Bishops acknowledge ‘history of trauma’ and formally apologize to Native American communities

Originally Published: 14 JUN 24 10:42 ET

Updated: 14 JUN 24 11:29 ET

By Nicole Chavez, CNN

(CNN) — The US Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a formal apology Friday to Indigenous people for the mistreatment and trauma inflicted by the Catholic Church.

The apology is part of a document approved by US Catholic bishops by a vote during its annual spring meeting in Louisville, Kentucky.

The document titled “Keeping Christ’s Sacred Promise: A Pastoral Framework for Indigenous Ministry,” includes the apology, discusses the church’s role in the boarding schools for Native American that forced assimilation in the 19th and 20th centuries, and sets a series of new policies for ministering to Indigenous Catholics.

“Today, many North American Indigenous Catholics trace their faith to the decision of their ancestors to embrace Catholicism hundreds of years ago. Sadly, many Indigenous Catholics have felt a sense of abandonment in their relationship with Church leaders due to a lack of understanding of their unique cultural needs,” the document states.

“We apologize for the failure to nurture, strengthen, honor, recognize, and appreciate those entrusted to our pastoral care.”

Native Americans comprise approximately 3.5% of Catholics in the United States, according to the UCCB. In the document, the bishops described how Native Americans were forced to assimilate to White culture by the church.

“In these schools, Indigenous children were forced to abandon their traditional languages, dress, and customs,” the bishops said in the document.

“Boarding schools were seen as one expedient means to achieve this cultural assimilation because they separated Indigenous children from their families and Tribes and “Americanized” them while they were still malleable,” the document adds.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.