Between 1870 and 1996, about 150,000 indigenous children were taken from their homes and placed in Catholic schools.
In his first public speech during a trip to Canada, Pope Francis apologized to survivors of abuse at Catholic boarding schools for indigenous children.
“I’m so sorry,” the Pope said on the grounds of a former boarding school in Maskwacis, near Edmonton.
- Shocking reports of boarding schools in Canada where 6,000 indigenous children died
He said an apology was the first step and a “serious investigation” into the abuse was needed to overcome the traumas.
The Pope is in Canada to apologize for the church’s role in schools aimed at transforming indigenous children.
The Canadian government-funded schools were part of a policy aimed at destroying indigenous cultures.
The papal apology was met with applause from the survivors in the audience, some of whom came from far to listen to the pope’s speech.
- Indigenous MP says ‘What happened in Canada was genocide’
‘Victim Journey’
Francis expressed “sadness, anger and shame” over the actions of members of the Roman Catholic Church who run most boarding schools in Canada.
The 85-year-old pope called the school system “a catastrophic mistake” and apologized for “the wrongs done by so many Christians” against indigenous peoples.
Also present at the event were Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Governor General Mary Simon, the first indigenous person to hold the position. role, Queen II in the country. It is to represent Elizabeth because the monarch is the head of the state of Canada, which is a constitutional monarchy.
Prior to his speech, the Pope met privately with local church leaders and prayed silently at the Ermineskin Cree Nation Cemetery, where the graves were identified. and possibly others unidentified? boarding school students.
The former site of the Ermineskin Boarding School, one of Canada’s largest, is the pope’s first stop on his tour? What the Pope calls “an atonement pilgrimage.”
Many asked the Pope to apologize for the role the Catholic Church played in running 70% of Canada’s boarding schools.
The schools started operating in the 1870s, with the last one being closed in 1996. During this time, approximately 150,000 First Nations, Métis, and Inuit children were taken from their homes and held in these institutions.
The Pope’s remarks on Monday (25/7), following a historic apology to an indigenous delegation at the Vatican in April, at the time, Francis declared boarding schools a cause of “pain and shame”.
The apology was well received by indigenous leaders, but some urged the pope to take action.
The Pope will also visit the Church of the Sacred Heart of the First Peoples, Canada’s first national congregation, in Edmonton.
He is expected to make further public comments on the subject during his trip.
– This text was published in: https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/internacional-62300474
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source: Noticias
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