Pope provides the comfort survivors need to move forward

A wink and a wave from Pope Benedict XVI was all that members of Indian Brook First Nation (Nova Scotia) needed to make their trip to Rome in October worthwhile.
Forty-eight people made the 10-day trip. The group included 14 survivors from Shubenacadie Indian Residential School and half a dozen day school survivors.
There were also elders, family members of school survivors, and first generation descendants of school survivors (ranging in age from 15 to 50 years old), support staff and two priests.
"It wasn't about getting a formal apology," said Violet Paul of the trip. She is a senior policy analyst with the Atlantic Policy Congress of First Nations Chiefs, a family member of a survivor from the Shubenacadie Indian Residential School, and was a support person for the residential school and day school survivors.
"It was important for them to go on a healing journey."
The trip to Rome began as a trip for the Indian Brook First Nations youth. When Paul found out about the trip, she got to thinking, and dreaming. She discussed with Mark Boudreau, Atlantic Policy Congress communications person, the possibility of residential school survivors making the trip too. It was a "pie in the sky" dream, said Paul, but after speaking to a number of survivors, she realized the trip to see the Pope was integral to their healing process.
"The dream for them became reality," she said, and she would like other residential school survivors to dream big and do what they need to do in order to heal.
Elders rose early in the morning on Oct. 15 to get front row seats to see the Pope. The Indian Brook First Nation group was the first in line among the thousands of people who filled St. Peter's Square in Vatican City.
While Benedict XVI does not grant private audiences or interviews, he did acknowledge the survivors with gestures. Cardinals, who spoke, "acknowledged the pilgrimage from Indian Brook Nation," said Paul and the group also received VIP seating.
"The meeting was indescribable," said Paul, whose voice still shakes almost a month later when she talks about it. "The survivors were very, very touched. They didn't need for (the Pope) to come over personally and say 'hi'. Just being in his presence was enough for them. It was overwhelming for them."
And it took their healing journey, which began many years ago, a step further, she added.
Being in the Pope's presence was only one step on the path.
In Rome, the group visited holy sites and then returned to their hotel to debrief in a talking circle.
For many of the survivors, it was the first time they talked about their experiences in the Catholic residential school. There were times when the sharing became so intense that the youth were taken out of the room.
Many of the survivors forgave the church and, what's more, said Paul, it brought the youth and elders closer together.
Paul recounted the tale of a training session after their return to Indian Brook where a survivor was crying and a youth held the survivor's hand.
"The survivor said 'This is the first time in my life I've ever been comforted by a youth. He knew the pain I was going through because we took youth (to Rome) with us.'"
A day was also spent in Paris and provided an opportunity for the survivors to relax after eight intense days of healing and sharing. The last debriefing session took place on the Eiffel Tower.
"Someone said 'Who would have ever known, 40 odd years ago, we were sitting as little children in these chairs being physically, sexually and psychologically abused, and now we're standing on top of the world.'"
From the trip, Debbie Paul stated, the Atlantic Policy Congress has "a pretty good idea of where we need to go in developing a healing strategy for our people."