SYDNEY, Australia (CNS) The Australian Catholic bishops welcomed a government announcement that it would apologise to the "stolen generations" of Aboriginal people separated from their families under past policies of assimilation. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said an apology to the stolen generations, regarded as essential to reconciling black and white Australians with their turbulent history, would be the first item of business when Parliament resumes Feb. 13.
The government’s announcement was "a great relief to most Australians," said the chairman of the Australian bishops’ indigenous commission, Archbishop Barry Hickey of Perth.
"The general population has been far ahead of its political leaders on this matter," he told Catholic News Service. "The federal government should express sorrow that terrible things happened in many communities.
"In saying ‘sorry,’ the government is not necessarily implying that it is solely to blame. The whole of Australia must accept some responsibility," he said.
Archbishop Hickey said the unease expressed by some Australians that any formal apology would lead to a compensation scheme for victims missed the point of addressing the racism that had allowed indigenous families to be scattered for decades and that continues to afflict them and their children.
"Fear of financial implications should not limit the expression of sorrow because the breakdown in traditional culture and the effects of powerlessness are obvious," he said. "Saying ‘sorry’ will free up the emotional logjam that now exists and create new opportunities for the recovery of broken lives."
Aboriginal leader Mick Dodson, co-chairman of the independent, nonprofit group Reconciliation Australia, described the government’s proposed apology as "monumental."
"It is something people have waited for for a very long time," he said. "It’s hugely important to us as a nation and to members of the stolen generations."
The apology is a break with the former government of John Howard. As prime minister, Howard expressed "deep regret" for past government mistreatment of Aborigines but never said the word "sorry."
The policy of removing full-blood and mixed-descent Aboriginal children from their families to live in dormitories on distant missions was pursued by state and federal government agencies in Australia until 1972. According to the 1997 report "Bringing Them Home," at least 30,000 children were removed from their parents.
For indigenous Australians, social dislocation has been the lasting legacy of this policy. Aborigines continue to be overrepresented in jails, and many communities have imploded under alcohol abuse and violence. Last year, the federal government staged an intervention to address cases of child sexual abuse in isolated communities in the Northern Territory.
Overall, Aboriginal people suffer from many preventable health conditions, including diabetes and emphysema, with the average age expectancy of Aboriginal people lagging 17 years behind the rest of the population.
At the Synod of Bishops for Oceania in 1998, Australia’s bishops expressed their sorrow at the plight of the Aboriginal people and the church’s past involvement in the destruction of their familial ties, languages and culture.
