Some people don’t like apologies, particularly from their leaders. A lot of people don’t like Justin Trudeau because they think he apologizes too much.  They see an apology as a sign of weakness.

Lawyers constantly tell their clients to avoid apologies. Perhaps it was lawyers that held sway over Pope Francis  of the Catholic Church for so long that he almost  had to be dragged to Canada  nearly a decade after the call for him to apologize by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. He apologized long after the leader of the United Church apologized for damage done to Indian residential school children by his church,

Speaking as a person and a citizen, not a lawyer, I say that an apology is a sign of strength not weakness. The leader of the United Church of Canada, the very Reverend Dr. Bill Phillips gave a moving apology to the victim of residential schools I Canada. Here is part of his words:

“We are on a long and painful journey as we reflect on the cries that we did not or would not hear. And how we have behaved as a church. We travel this difficult road of repentance and reconciliation and healing. We commit ourselves to work towards ensuring that we will never again use our power as a church to hurt others with attitudes of racial and spiritual superiority. “

I heard no weakness in that apology. Only strength.  The United Church did wrong. It apologized. What is weak about that? Misusing power against vulnerable children on the other hand, that is weakness.