Pope Francis has apologized for the Roman Catholic Church’s involvement in Church-run residential schools that have harmed Indigenous children of Canada for more than a century. He said he hoped to visit Canada in July to express regret. (www.stocktargetadvisor.com) He will also apologize for the “deplorable” injustices that indigenous children have suffered in the country.
The pope addressed at the Apostolic Palace in front of delegations from Canada’s three main Indigenous communities. They are the Metis, Inuit, and First Nations. They had traveled to Rome to seek an apology and assure that the Catholic church was committed to mending the damage.
What did Pope Francis have to say about it?
Pope Francis expressed regret to the families of Indigenous children who were discovered buried near Church-run schools. More than 1,300 unmarked graves were discovered on the grounds where these schools formerly stood until September of last year.
The pope said, “For the deplorable behavior of those members of the Catholic Church, I ask forgiveness from God and I would like to tell you from the bottom of my heart that I am very pained.”
“I feel shame – sorrow and shame – for the role that a number of Catholics, particularly those with educational responsibilities, had in all these things that wounded you, in the abuses you suffered, and in the lack of respect shown for your identity, your culture and even your spiritual values,” added the pope.
The schools run by the churches
Around 150,000 Indigenous children in Canada were forcibly removed from their homes and put in church-run schools. There, they were subjected to physical and sexual abuse. These children were removed from their families and communities to be “culturally assimilated.”
Canadian Prime Minister Just Trudeau in a statement issued on Friday. It said, “Canada’s history will forever be stained by the tragic reality of the residential school system, which forcibly separated at least 150,000 Indigenous children from their families and communities, often at great distances, where they were prohibited from practicing their culture and traditions and speaking their languages… Last year, the findings of unmarked graves at the sites of former residential schools across the country forced Canadians to reflect on our country’s failures and their impacts that continue to be felt today.”
Last year, a First Nation Indigenous organization announced that 215 bodies of children as young as three years old had been discovered at the Kamloops Indian Residential School. A month later, 751 unmarked graves, largely of children, were discovered in the Marieval Indian Residential School in Saskatchewan. A week following this finding, 182 unmarked graves were discovered on the grounds of Cranbrook’s St. Eugene’s residential school, which opened in 1890.
In total, 4,117 children from Indigenous communities died in the previous year.
Children reportedly suffered abuse. They had to forcefully practice Christianity. Also, they were not permitted to speak their native languages in these schools.
6000 children
According to a study by the Canadian government’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, more than 6,000 children are believed to have perished as a result of mistreatment at Church-run residential schools. The Commission had previously asked the Church for an apology for its role in the abuse of Indigenous children.
When children’s graves were discovered in September of last year, the Canadian bishops’ conference apologized to the country’s Indigenous people.
Catholic churches ran the majority of these residential schools. They operated during the 1880s and 1990s.
According to the Canadian government’s 2016 census, 1,673,785 Indigenous people were living in the country. There were 977,230 First Nations people, 587,545 Métis people, and 65,025 Inuit people. In 2016, indigenous people made up 4.9 percent of the overall population.