Pope Francis on Monday, 25 July, issued a historic apology for the Catholic Church's role in Canada's "catastrophic" policy of Indigenous schools, emphasising that the forced induction of native people into Christian society led to the destruction of their cultures and destroyed families.
"I am deeply sorry," the Pope said amid applause from school survivors and members of Indigenous communities at a former residential school near Alberta.
He further called the policy carried out in the past a "disastrous error," which was not compatible with the Gospel, adding that deeper investigations into the matter were required.
"I humbly beg forgiveness for the evil committed by so many Christians against the Indigenous peoples," Francis said.
'Waited 50 Years for this Apology': Survivor
Reacting to the Pope's speech, Evelyn Korkmaz, a survivor, said, "I've waited 50 years for this apology, and finally today I heard it."
"Part of me is rejoicing, part of me is sad, part of me is numb," she added.
However, she also emphasised that a "work plan" should have been mentioned by the Pope on what the next steps of reconciliation would be, including releasing files of the church on children who had died in the schools.
Francis arrived in Canada on Sunday to kick off a week-long visit centred around the apology on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church for the abuse endured by Indigenous children, predominantly in church-run residential schools.
"Dear brothers and sisters of #Canada, I come among you to meet the indigenous peoples," he had tweeted.
In the first event of his "penitential pilgrimage," the 85-year-old pontiff visited the lands of four Cree nations to worship at a cemetery.
Four chiefs escorted the Pope, who was in a wheelchair, to the site near the former Ermineskin Indian Residential School and presented a feathered headdress to him after he spoke, thus making him an honorary member of their community.
His trip will further include multiple encounters with the native people in a bid to apologise for the Church's role in state-sanctioned schools that sought the erasure of Indigenous cultures in Canada.
The trip also acts as a test of the Pope's health after he cancelled a visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan in July due to a knee issue, which forced him to use a wheelchair, and subsequently, a cane.
The head of the Catholic Church said, "This is a trip of penance. Let's say that is its spirit," Al-Jazeera reported.
Representative of Canadian head of state Queen Elizabeth, Governor General Mary Simon, was the first to greet the Pope, followed by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
"Pope Francis has arrived," the Canadian Prime Minister tweeted after the pope's arrival.
"He is visiting Canada to deliver the Roman Catholic Church's apology to First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Survivors and their descendants – for its role in operating residential schools, and for causing pain and suffering that continues to this very day," he added.
The papal plane landed in Edmonton in the western province of Alberta, where the Pope is set to visit a former residential school and interact with Indigenous people on Monday. He will also visit Iqaluit, the capital of the territory of Nunavut and Quebec City.
Abuse of Indigenous Children
Over 150,000 Indigenous children were separated from their families and brought to residential schools between 1881 and 1996, where they were starved, beaten, and sexually abused.
The Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission called the system a "cultural genocide," Al-Jazeera reported. The commission also added that over 4,000 Indigenous children lost their lives either from neglect or abuse within residential schools, many of which were run by the Catholic Church.
Indigenous leaders had long called for a papal apology owed to the harm inflicted on Indigenous children for decades. CNN reported that in 2021, hundreds of unmarked graves were discovered on the grounds of former residential schools in British Columbia and Saskatchewan.
In April, the Pope, speaking to Indigenous leaders, expressed his "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," CNN reported.
(With inputs from Al-Jazeera, CNN and AP.)
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