The request seems straightforward:  The Roman Catholic Church operated most of the residential schools. All other denominations involved have issued formal apologies.  As a result, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission called on Pope Francis to visit Canada and apologize within a year of the report being issued.

The commission appeared to be on solid ground in its request. Francis's predecessor, Benedict, apologized to children abused by Catholic clergy in Ireland.  Francis, who apologized in 2015 to the Indigenous peoples of the Americas for the church's role in the "grave sins" of colonialism, apparently told Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that he was open to a Canadian apology.

Not all aspects of the situation are that simple.

The Catholic Church in Canada is much more decentralized than the three Protestant churches involved in running residential schools. The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops was not the body involved in operating the schools.  They were instead operated by various dioceses and religious orders, many of which have already issued direct apologies for their roles in the abuse.

In 2009 Phil Fontaine, then national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, also had a private meeting with Pope Benedict who expressed regret for what happened. Fontaine stated at the time that this should "close the book" on the issue of an apology.

A papal visit to Canada is also no small thing: It would require significant funding from the Canadian Catholic church.

So have the bishops responded to the TRC's request with thoughtfulness and communications savvy? No. They've responded by sowing utter confusion.

It began on March 27 when they told the world that the Pope could not "personally respond" to the commission's request and offered no further explanation other than a commitment to reconciliation. Public reaction was loud and swift with steps even being taken to have the House of Commons pass a motion asking the bishops reconsider their decision.

Instead of responding with a reasoned explanation, the Catholic leadership for the most part stayed quiet.  Those who did speak, only made matters worse. Rather than give direct answers, they kept reiterating the complicated nature of the situation and the fact that apologies had already occurred. Father Thomas Rosica, head of Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation, and usually a thoughtful communicator, did no favours to the cause with his repeated comments to the media that "apologies have become very cheap."

Things went from bad to worse.

With the House of Commons about to deal with the matter, the bishops issued another rambling statement.  Failing once again to explain clearly why the Pope would not apologize, it placed considerable weight on Phil Fontaine's 2009 quote following his meeting with Pope Benedict. Unfortunately for the bishops, Fontaine responded by stating that he was quoted out of context.

The low point of the saga occurred during a follow-up press conference by the leadership of the bishops — one of the most confusing performances ever played out on Parliament Hill.  After several floundering statements, one of the bishops suddenly announced that the "Pope never said he wouldn't apologize," just that he wouldn't respond to the specific request of the TRC, including its strict timelines.  The ensuing uproar prompted one journalist to call out: "You are making it very confusing. None of us know what is going on."

As a Catholic and a former politician, I have one message for the bishops: This has got to end.

First, take a clear position on this question and explain it in a way that people can understand.

Second, drop the talk of the Pope's inability to apologize due to the decentralized nature of the church in Canada — there are too many similar papal apologies for this excuse to hold any water.

Third, don't pick a fight with Phil Fontaine. Using this respected Indigenous leader's words for a "gotcha moment" is highly inadvisable.  And no one cares if parts of the Catholic church have already apologized. The seriousness of this horrific chapter in Canada's history may require multiple apologies from different quarters of the church.

And if the church can't afford a papal visit, then encourage him to instead issue a written apology and leave a visit as aspirational.  It wouldn't fully address the TRC's request, but it would certainly go a long way to undoing this self-inflicted damage.

Canada's Catholic bishops have a long history of making positive contributions to public policy debates. They have spoken out on social and economic justice, the environment and the plight of the poor and marginalized.  Unless they clear up this matter now, they are in danger of throwing it all away over a legitimate request by people searching for justice.

John Milloy is a former MPP and Ontario Liberal cabinet minister currently serving as the Director of the Centre for Public Ethics and assistant professor of public ethics at Waterloo Lutheran Seminary, and the inaugural practitioner in residence in Wilfrid Laurier University's Political Science department. He is also a lecturer in the University of Waterloo's Master of Public Service Program.  John can be reached at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @John_Milloy.