Without formal apologies, the Pope referred to indigenous bodies found in Canada

First modification: 07/06/2021 – 03:26

As part of his weekly blessing in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis said he felt pain at “the news coming from Canada about the disturbing discovery of the remains.” Further, he added: “I join with the Canadian Bishops and the entire Catholic Church in Canada in expressing my closeness to the Canadian people traumatized by the shocking news.

However, he did not apologize for the fact that this directly involves the Catholic Church. The Kamloops Indian Residential School, where the remains were found, was the largest facility of its kind in Canada and was operated by the facility between 1890 and 1969.

A few days earlier, Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada, addressed himself directly to the Pope asking him to “come forward” and urging him to take up his responsibilities.

“As a Catholic, I am deeply disappointed with the stance the Catholic Church has taken today and in recent years,” Trudeau said. On the other hand, he referred to the visit he made several years ago to the Vatican where he asked the Pope to go ahead “by apologizing, asking forgiveness, restoring, putting these archives available “.

On the other hand, when the pope’s statements were released, some Indigenous leaders in Canada expressed their displeasure. “We are all hurt and saddened. Who is not? This is a global sham,” Bobby Cameron, head of the Saskatchewan Federation of Sovereign Indian Nations, told Reuters.

Many indigenous leaders and survivors of Kamloops have agreed that what the Pope has said is not enough and that they await a formal apology. “The Pope won’t say, ‘You know what? I heard that there were (thousands) cases of physical and sexual abuse in these boarding schools run by our church.’ He won’t say that, ”said Saa Hiil Thut, one of the survivors.

Why is the Church held responsible?

For over 100 years, until 1970, 150,000 Aboriginal children were forced to attend publicly funded schools like Kamloops that sought to assimilate them into Canadian society.

In these places, children were forced to give up their beliefs and languages, replacing them with the Christian faith and official languages ​​such as English and French. The Canadian government has admitted that these schools even lead to physical and sexual abuse.

In the process, many children, who mainly belonged to the Intuit and Métis ethnic groups, were buried in anonymous graves.

As a result of these events, the Canadian government decided in 2008 to create an organization called the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which sought testimonies on indigenous internees and really clarified what happened in these places.

In the report published by the Commission, he said that cultural genocide had been committed. They also found that more than 4,100 children died while attending these schools. However, it appears that the 215 bodies found were not included in the tally.

Likewise, the body made 94 recommendations, including an apology from the Pope. But, despite the new findings, this has not been formally done.

The Pope and his apologies to the indigenous communities

Although the Pope did not offer a direct apology, this is not the first time that the Pontiff has referred to the abuses committed by the Church towards indigenous communities in various countries.

In fact, during his visit to Bolivia in 2015, he directly apologized to communities for “many serious sins (which) have been committed against the indigenous peoples of America in the name of God”.

However, the Canadian government and aboriginal groups are still waiting. But, as of yet, there is no date for a papal visit to the community.

With Reuters and AP