 Here’s what you need to know to get the day started: | | | The Pope's apology was a start. Now the real work begins, some Catholics and Indigenous leaders say | | |  | Murray Sinclair, former senator and former chair for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, said something important was missing in the Pope's apology. (Kim Kaschor/CBC) | | | Father Michael Kwiatkowski wiped tears from his eyes as he watched Pope Francis apologize to Indigenous residential school survivors on Monday.
"One thing that's struck to my heart, and I think it would strike to the heart of all the parishioners here, here, is how families were, you know, taken apart," said Kwiatkowski, who heads the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic parish in Winnipeg.
He said his parishioners may be preoccupied with the war in Ukraine, but they still want to be a part of this journey to reconciliation.
It's a sentiment many non-Indigenous Catholics are expressing during the Pope's pilgrimage of penance in Canada this week.
It's reminding them of the Pope's passion for social justice, and how he opens his heart to the oppressed and downtrodden, Kwiatkowski said.
Many residential school survivors and Indigenous leaders wanted to hear the Pope apologize on behalf of the Catholic Church as a whole, not just its individual members. They include Murray Sinclair, the former Manitoba senator who chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada.
The TRC's report called for a personal apology by the Pope as one of the calls to action in its final report. Yet Sinclair still has concerns.
"Despite this historic apology, the Holy Father's statement has left a deep hole in the acknowledgement of the full role of the church in the residential school system, by placing blame on individual members of the church. It is important to underscore that the church was not just an agent of the state, nor simply a participant in government policy, but was a lead co-author of the darkest chapters in the history of this land," he said in a statement.
Religious experts also noticed that distinction in the Pope's apology.
"One thing that I was looking for, and didn't hear, was an explicit acknowledgement of the complicity of the church as an institution," said Jeremy Bergen, who teaches religion and theology at Conrad Grebel University College, part of the University of Waterloo. | | | | | Philippines earthquake sends boulders tumbling | | |  | (Harley Palangchao/The Associated Press) | | | | Boulders fall as a vehicle negotiates a road during an earthquake in Bauko, Mountain Province, Philippines on Wednesday. The 7.0-magnitude quake left at least four people dead and injured dozens in the northern Philippines, where the temblor set off small landslides and damaged buildings. One passenger was injured after a boulder hit the vehicle in this photo. Read more about the quake here. | | | | | | | | | In brief | | | Royal Bank of Canada has been ordered to divulge the real owners of 97 offshore corporations that used its services, but a critic is wondering why it's taken the Canada Revenue Agency six years to acquire a fount of information that could help detect tax cheats. The companies involved are all registered in the Bahamas, a tax haven, and originally came to light as part of a leak of financial records called Bahamas Leaks. In submissions to the Federal Court, the CRA says most of the companies used tactics to "obfuscate the identities of the persons who truly control and beneficially own these entities," and it wants to check whether the real owners are Canadians hiding money in tax havens. "The CRA is concerned that any or all of these 97 Bahamian corporations may be controlled and/or beneficially owned by persons resident in Canada," the agency says in a court filing. Read the full story here.
A third-party investigator hired by Hockey Canada to look into an alleged group sexual assault said players who don't participate in her investigation will be banned from Hockey Canada for life — and that many players she hasn't interviewed are worried that Hockey Canada and some politicians have pre-judged them guilty. Danielle Robitaille, a partner at law firm Henein Hutchison LLP, told the House of Commons standing committee on Canadian heritage that Hockey Canada has advised her that players who don't take part in her reopened investigation will be banned from Hockey Canada and will be named publicly. In May 2022, Hockey Canada settled a $3.55-million lawsuit filed in April by a woman who alleges she was sexually assaulted by eight former Canadian Hockey League (CHL) players following a Hockey Canada Foundation event in London, Ont., in June 2018. The allegations have not been proven in court. The identities of the players allegedly involved and the alleged victim are not publicly known. Read more on this story here.
Citing a nationwide labour shortage, several provincial immigration ministers say they want more control over the immigration process and have sent a letter to their federal counterpart calling for change. In a letter sent Tuesday, ministers from Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba are calling on Sean Fraser, Canada's minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship, to allow their provinces to select more immigrants with the skills they need most. "We need the ability to respond to the rapidly evolving needs of specific areas and communities, with a flexible system that we can adapt to changing economic and humanitarian needs," the letter states. Ahead of a meeting with Fraser and their fellow immigration ministers in Saint John, they say Canada needs to do more to attract and retain workers — particularly in skilled trades. Read more on this story here.
It was hailed as a post-Cold War collaboration for the good of humanity: two old rivals joining forces to launch the International Space Station (ISS) more than 20 years ago. "The International Space Station is regarded as the most complex engineering, scientific, collaborative human feat ever managed," NASA boasts. But as relations between Russia and the West become increasingly strained due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, officials in Moscow announced on Tuesday that Russia will opt out of the ISS after 2024, concentrating instead on building its own competing outer space infrastructure. Analysts say they worry Russia quitting one of the last remaining vestiges of co-operation with the West will set back scientific research and potentially lead to an increased militarization of space. Read more here.
Now for some good news to start your Wednesday: An Ottawa high school student has won first place at the International Brain Bee, the world's top neuroscience competition for teenagers. This year's world championship was held virtually from July 2-9 and hosted by the 2022 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies Forum and the Paris Brain Institute. Helene Li, 15, competed against 30 students from six different continents over eight days of tests and question and answer rounds. The competition was made up of three sections: general neuroscience knowledge, patient diagnosis, and neuroanatomy and neurohistology. "My favourite part, I would have to say, would be the neuroanatomy/neurohistology section, because I find it interesting to map out spatially where structures are in the brain," she told CBC. Read more about the young winner here. | | | FIRST PERSON | Dear Mom, the Pope is in Canada to meet residential school survivors | For residential school survivor Vivian Ketchum, the Pope’s visit has stirred up complicated feelings of what it means to forgive. She wrote this letter to her mom to process her emotions. Read it here. | | | | | | |  | Phil Fontaine's long fight for a papal apology | Decades ago, Phil Fontaine helped open Canada's eyes to the horrors of the residential school system. And he's since spent years pushing for an apology from the top of the Catholic Church. Today he reflects on hearing Pope Francis say "sorry" for the second time.
"My big issue right now is, what to do about this issue of moving beyond the apology," said Fontaine, who is a residential school survivor and served three terms as national chief of the Assembly of First Nations.
Access to church records, how to handle unmarked graves and the return of Indigenous land are key issues for Fontaine.
Also in this episode, Mabel Brown, a survivor who traveled from Inuvik, N.W.T., to see the Pope speak, shares what the apology means to her.
Listen to today's episode | | | Today in history: July 27 | | | 1866: The laying of the first successful transatlantic cable is completed with the landing of the 3,034-kilometre cable at Heart's Content, N.L.
1921: Dr. Frederick Banting and Charles Best, a medical student, at the University of Toronto, successfully isolate the hormone insulin for the first time. The discovery and the demonstration of insulin's beneficial effects on diabetes are considered one of the great medical achievements of the 20th century.
1953: Hostilities cease in the three-year Korean War when an armistice was reached in Panmunjom.
1974: In televised hearings, a U.S. judiciary committee recommends that President Richard Nixon be impeached. He resigned two weeks later after tapes proved he had covered up his involvement in the Watergate affair. He was the first president in U.S. history to resign. | | | (With files from CBC News, The Canadian Press, The Associated Press and Reuters) | | | | |  | CBC NEWS APP | The most convenient way to get your news
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