Pope apologizes to Indigenous Peoples for school abuses

Pope Francis on Friday made a historic apology to Indigenous Peoples for the “deplorable” abuses they suffered in Canada’s Catholic-run residential schools and said he hoped to visit Canada in late July to deliver the apology in person to survivors of the church’s misguided missionary zeal.

Francis begged forgiveness during an audience with dozens of members of the Metis, Inuit and First Nations communities who came to Rome seeking a papal apology and a commitment from the Catholic Church to repair the damage. The first pope from the Americas said he hoped to visit Canada around the Feast of St. Anna, which falls on July 26.

More than 150,000 native children in Canada were forced to attend state-funded Christian schools from the 19th century until the 1970s in an effort to isolate them from the influence of their homes and culture. The aim was to Christianize and assimilate them into mainstream society.

The Canadian government has admitted that physical and sexual abuse was rampant at the schools, with students beaten for speaking their native languages. That legacy

of that abuse and isolation from family has been cited as a root cause of the epidemic rates of alcohol and drug addiction on Canadian reservations.

After hearing their stories all week, Francis told the Indigenous the colonial project ripped children from their families, cutting off roots, traditions and culture and provoking inter-generational trauma that is still being felt today. He said it was a “counter-witness” to the same Gospel that the residential school system purported to uphold.

“For the deplorable conduct of those members of the Catholic Church, I ask forgiveness of the Lord,” Francis said. “And I want to tell you from my heart, that I am greatly pained. And I unite myself with the Canadian bishops in apologizing.”

The trip to Rome by the Indigenous was years in the making but gained momentum last year after the discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves outside some of the residential schools in Canada.

Natan Obed, president of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, thanked Francis for addressing all the issues the Indigenous had brought to him. “And he did so in a way that really showed his empathy towards the indigenous people of Canada,” he said.

ALESSANDRA TARANTINO/ASSOCIATED PRESS Members of the Assembly of First Nations perform in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Thursday. Pope Francis welcomed First Nations delegations to the Vatican. They received an apology from the pope for the Catholic Church’s role in running Canada’s notorious residential schools for Indigenous children.