Catholic priest accused of impregnating girl at residential school

winter's coming even now looking at the freezing jack river in norway house randy aptagen feels pain when i was five years old i was sent to come down here with my uncle sent to check fishing nets in the ice he was getting angry at me didn't like having to take a little kid with him down here i guess next thing he was in the water my uncle grabbed me and he dunked me in that ice hole like cold water that the water was one painful feeling i would never forget it would come to represent his relationship with his mother's family a lifetime of hostility resentment and alienation anytime they had the opportunity to call me a bastard they did yeah you know anytime they had the opportunity to put my mom down they did was ever a reference to who your grandfather was oh yes absolutely absolutely like look at me i'm pale as pale can be right but they call me paloys which in tree is the definition of a catholic priest father chamberlain is worried about the impact the white man's way of life may have on the indians father albert chamberlain a priest from quebec spent 50 years in northern manitoba in saskatchewan running residential schools and catholic missions including norway house here he is interviewed by cbc television in 1963. i don't think that a canadian government will let him try look she has his chin when randy and his niece jillian look at it they see someone else i tell grandma look when she was mad she'd have that that don't mess with me face like that type of deal hi mary hi johnny did you get that mary uptaken was randy's mother born in the late 40s in norway house she died in 2006 revealing a family secret the priest was her father and that's where we heard the story about grandma great grandma getting pregnant by the priest and then her getting married off teresa evans was randy's grandmother in the late 40s she was a student at a residential school overseen by chamberlain who would have had vast authority randy says his grandmother became pregnant as a teen and i can't imagine the fear that she was ahead he says his grandmother was coerced into marrying william aptagen here they are later in life to cover up that chamberlain was the father an abuse of power and violation of his vows celibacy as a catholic priest elders in norway house confirm it was known in the community i'm a product of something that i never asked to be a part of my mother never asked me a part of my grandmother never asked to be a part of you know well chamberlain died in quebec in 1984. the church he oversaw in norway house still stands today shuttered while randy considers himself a believer he's not a church follower the local archbishop declined an interview request but in a statement said he had no awareness of this family's concerns and would not hesitate to meet with the family to better understand their situation and assist them do you think the church owes you anything like in terms of an acknowledgement or some sort of accountability i would say yes but to what degree i can't even answer because i can't even fathom that answer my whole life has been affected my course of life has been altered right from birth because of it a seemingly extraordinary situation that's left him feeling alone [Music] but far away in ireland it turns out someone else has been asking the church similar questions psychotherapist vincent doyle is the son of a catholic priest dedicated to helping other descendants of priests the pattern you've described is is very identifiable where the church try and shoot away and arrange it in a marriage um it's it's a global pattern his book our fathers is a call to the vatican to acknowledge a long history of priests fathering children there's at least fifteen thousand children on a global level but that'll be the conservative estimate that includes canadian cases that could have happened during the time of canada's residential school system is no surprise to doyle what responsibility does the church bear for individuals that are in this circumstance they owe us an explanation for their actions over the last god knows how many centuries of pretending we don't exist looking through the archival record randy is convinced what he sees backs up his mother's story even in the absence of physical evidence but when you see these pictures of him there's clearly no doubt in your mind that this oh absolutely man this this this is a face that i've looked at for years when you look at this guy you see your family you see some of yourself but you also see that system do you feel curiosity do you feel disdain do you feel like it's got to be a lot of things i feel like yeah you know like here you are you're looking at something that's a part of you you know that you never knew you would ever be a part of but there it is that's in your genes but at the same time you look at it with disgust you know what i mean at the same you know the feelings are mixed all of it just raises more questions about who he is who he's related to who else this might have happened to continuously goes through my mind and makes you wonder how many more are out there you know questions that won't be answered simply by those photos cameron mcintosh cbc news winnipeg

Channel: CBC News: The National

Views: 16,977

Keywords: Father Albert Chamberland, Mary Apetagon, Pahkwayis, Norway House, Randal Apetagon, Saint-Boniface Historical Society, Archdiocese of Keewatin-Le Pas, intergenerational trauma, residential schools, manitoba residential schools, residential school abuse, priests residential schools, priests fathered children, canada residential schools, CBC, The National, Cameron Macintosh

Id: IiRxtXuU_RY

Length: 5min 57sec (357 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 02 2021