By BARBARA SIMPSON
As if we didn’t have enough to be skeptical about media reporting, now we find out that a major scandal reported concerning the Catholic Church appears to be unfounded.
You’ve probably read and heard about it — the allegation that thousands of mass graves were discovered in Canada that contained the bodies of Indigenous children who had been under the care of the Catholic Church.
The story originated with an e-mail from anthropologist Sarah Beaulieu. In it, she said she used ground-penetrating radar to discover the remains of bodies buried on the grounds of the Kamloops Residential Indian School. The radar supposedly had found indications of some 215 probable graves on the grounds of the school. It was a boarding school for Indigenous children. It was originally run by the Catholic Order of Mary Immaculate for 16 years until 1969, when the Canadian government took over.
She did say that further radar surveys were needed to confirm the allegation of gravesites. She said her investigations had “barely scratched the surface.”
On the basis of her allegation, the story took on a life of its own and was spread worldwide in headlines. Native tribes supported the allegations as did the premier of Canada, Justin Trudeau. He went so far as to have the flags of the country flown at half-staff and called the burial story a “dark and shameful chapter in Canadian history.”
As the news coverage continued, so did the hatred against Christians and Catholics in particular. The hatred was seen in the burning of mainly Catholic, but also non-Catholic, churches across Canada and in other countries, as well as the defacement of statues and other religious figures. Catholic schools were also targeted for damage. Some people, reportedly including Prime Minister Trudeau, actually called the damage “understandable.”
To this day, Trudeau has not changed his opinion on this and from the first, he has called for the Pope to travel to Canada to apologize in person for the role of the Catholic Church in this story.
Pope Francis has “apologized” verbally for the alleged role of the Church in any such burials and in fact, met with some tribal leaders in the Vatican. As for an in-person apology by the Pope in Canada, there is a trip planned for him to do that this July. However, whether that does come to pass, of course, remains to be seen, especially because of the latest revelations.
The hatred against the Church was fostered by the continued media coverage. Newspapers across the United States and other countries carried black headlines about the hundreds (thousands?) of graves of children and insinuated that the deaths were intentionally caused by the Catholic Church. It was called “mass murder” by some, and others said it was a “genocide.” It’s said that some tribal leaders compared it to Nazi boarding schools during World War II. Overall, it was an indictment against the Catholic Church.
There’s only one problem with this scenario — there is no proof to support it.
Ever since the first allegations, not a single body of a child or an adult has been discovered at either the main location of the accusation or other locations named. It’s been nearly a year — and nothing.
Paula Adamick wrote that a report in The Dorchester Review by Professor Jacques Rouillard concluded that none of the original radar report was correct. It said “the evidence of disturbances in the ground from the radar findings were likely tree roots and other soil disturbances. But no bodies” were found.
Records from the school were checked and they showed 51 deaths over 49 years, almost all from tuberculosis or influenza. Seventeen died in the Kamloops hospital and eight on their own reservations. All but 23 are accounted for in burials — certainly, not enough to fill the claims of “genocide” especially since the deaths were on reservation land.
According to the report, there is no evidence in any government record that deaths of Indigenous children were ever covered up or that there were mass graves kept secret from parents.
Yes, there were graves on the property, part of a still-used cemetery. As for the fact that some graves didn’t have markers: In years past, markers were made of wood which would have deteriorated over time.
What is a thinking person to make of this story? It seems to me the conclusion is that it was intentionally blown up far beyond the facts known, with the real intent to defame and possibly destroy the credibility of the Catholic Church.
When you have outlandish accusations made with no scientific follow-up to prove them, you have to wonder at the motives behind all of this. It’s too easy to accuse when the media carry the so-called facts — and do not follow up with any investigations to see if there is validity to any of it.
What makes it worse is that it appears that the Pope may be going along with the allegations without proof. If, in fact, he does go to Canada to “apologize” — what exactly would he be apologizing for?
The newspaper headlines. . . ? Will he look for proof they are correct? Or not? And if not, then why an apology?
There are so many concerns about the position of the Pope as to the Church and the criticisms of it. One of them is that he may be too willing to assume the allegations of the mass graves are true without looking further to be certain that they are true. If they are not true, there is no need for a trip to Canada and certainly no need for an apology.
However, there actually is a need for an apology – to the Catholic Church, from media outlets, reporters, and politicians — starting with Prime Minister Trudeau. Their anti-Catholic positions have been made all too clear over the months this story has been perpetuated.
Now that there is no proof it is true, we need them to apologize — in their headlines and lead news stories.
It’s the least they could do and having them tell the truth would be refreshing — especially to Catholics.
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