Pope Francis.Photo: Riccardo De Luca/Anadolu Agency via Getty
According to theAssociated Press, Francis made the statement on Friday while speaking to a group of Indigenous leaders from Canada’s First Nations, who traveled from the country to the Vatican this week.
The apology stems from the church’s role in forcing over 150,000 Indigenous children in Canada to attend Christian schools from the 19th century to the 1970s, the AP reported. In doing so, the church sought to create a separation of the children from their culture, replacing their customs with Christian beliefs.
“For the deplorable conduct of those members of the Catholic Church, I ask for God’s forgiveness and I want to say to you with all my heart: I am very sorry. And I join my brothers, the Canadian bishops, in asking your pardon,” he said, according toVatican News, an outlet officially affiliated with the Catholic Church.
“It is chilling to think of determined efforts to instill a sense of inferiority, to rob people of their cultural identity, to sever their roots, and to consider all the personal and social effects that this continues to entail: unresolved traumas that have become intergenerational traumas,” he continued.
During his remarks, the pope added that he felt sorrow and shame “for the role that a number of Catholics, particularly those with educational responsibilities, have 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.”
He went on to say that hoped to visit Canada in the future.
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Last year, the remains of around 750 people, many of them Indigenous children, were found where a former church-run school had stood. According to theNew York Times,the discovery came after another 215 children were found in unmarked graves at another school in British Columbia.
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Phil Fontaine, who previously spoke about the abuse he experienced at the church-run schools, said he feels like a path toward forgiveness is now possible.
source: people.com
