Cape Breton University issued an official apology on Thursday after a convocation address by Fr. Norman MacPhee sparked public backlash.
The 91-year-old priest used the term "residential school" to describe Fatima House, an institution he established in Honduras.
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The university stated that the phrase carries a deeply painful legacy for Indigenous peoples in Canada, particularly within Mi'kma'ki.
Fatima House was actually created to support young women in Honduras, the administration clarified.
Father MacPhee said during the ceremony: "Fatima House in Honduras, referring to it as a 'residential school' and noting that 'residential schools don't get good press.
But this one gets very good press in Honduras.'"
The university acknowledged the historical trauma associated with the terminology.
"While we recognize the good intentions in speaking about supporting young women in Honduras, there is no residential school that should ever get good press," Cape Breton University said.
Eskasoni First Nation Chief Leroy Denny, who holds an honorary doctorate from the university, expressed profound anger on social media.
"The Indian Residential School system was designed with one explicit goal: to 'kill the Indian in the child,'" Chief Denny said.
He emphasized that any lighthearted reference is completely unacceptable to survivors.
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"There is absolutely nothing good about them, and there is no context where they should ever be spoken of lightly.
To hear the term 'residential school' used to praise an institution during today's CBU convocation was deeply painful and triggering for our survivors, their families and the Mi'kmaw Nation," Chief Denny said.
Membertou resident Arnold Doucette also criticized the address online, noting the remarks were delivered in front of Mi'kmaq graduates.
"The point is that this happened in Unama'ki, in front of Mi'kmaq graduates, while standing on the lands of people still carrying the grief and intergenerational trauma of residential schools," Doucette wrote.
He rejected arguments defending the priest's intentions over the localized impact.
"You can't speak about 'a residential school getting good press' here and expect people not to react.
Those words are soaked in genocide, loss, abuse, stolen language, stolen identity and children who never came home," Doucette said.
"People keep asking us to focus on (MacPhee's) intent while dismissing the impact on our communities. Reconciliation does not work this way," he added.
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As of Friday morning, no further comments had been issued by Cape Breton University, Father MacPhee, or the Catholic Diocese of Antigonish.
