Pope Francis responds to discovery of 215 skeleton children in Canada but does not apologize

In his remarks Sunday afternoon, Pope Francis said he “responded with sadness to the disappointing news from Canada of the discovery of the bodies of 215 children.”

Wow cool – Pope Francis reacts to the discovery of the skeletons of 215 Indigenous students found in an old Canadian school. He expressed his pain for those who are forced to attend boarding schools run by the church.

Sadly, however, the Pope did not apologize, which reported Al Jazeera it is precisely these excuses that the survivors of the system were waiting for, which the commission of inquiry called “cultural genocide”. In his usual Sunday afternoon public remarks, Pope Francis said he “responded with sadness to the disappointing news from Canada of the discovery of the bodies of 215 children.”

“I join with the Bishops of Canada and the entire Catholic Church in Canada,” he added. “To express my closeness to Canadians traumatized by this shocking news.

Over 150,000 First Nations, Métis and Inuit children were forced to attend over 130 residential schools across Canada from the 1870s to the 1990s. This was done as a campaign to assimilate them into Canadian society.

Physical, mental and sexual harassment is rampant in schools and students are beaten for speaking their mother tongue. The children’s bodies were found using ground-penetrating radar at Kamloops Indian Residential School in Kamloops, British Columbia, late last month.

Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had previously expressed his disappointment with the Catholic Church. “As a Catholic, I am deeply disappointed with the stance the Catholic Church has taken today and in recent years,” Trudeau told reporters.

He criticized the church for its “silence” and “inaction”. He called on the church to formally apologize and improve its leading role in the housing school system. “We still see resistance from the church, maybe from the church in Canada,” said Trudeau, who in 2017 also made a formal request for a papal apology.

Principal Rosanne Casimir of Tk’emlups te Secwepemc First Nation in British Columbia found the body at Kamloops Housing School after decades of work. He said his country wanted a public apology from the Catholic Church.

(week / zodi)