Pope voices 'pain' over Canadian deaths, doesn't apologize [View all]
Source: Associated Press
Pope voices pain over Canadian deaths, doesnt apologize
By FRANCES D'EMILIO
June 6, 2021
VATICAN CITY (AP) Pope Francis on Sunday expressed his pain over the discovery in Canada of the remains of 215 Indigenous students of church-run residential schools and pressed religious and political authorities to shed light on this sad affair. But he didnt offer the apology sought by the Canadian prime minister.
Francis, in remarks to faithful gathered in St. Peters Square, also called on the authorities to foster healing but made no reference to Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus insistence, two days earlier, that the Vatican apologize and take responsibility.
From the 19th century until the 1970s, more than 150,000 Indigenous children were forced to attend state-funded Christian schools, the majority of them run by Roman Catholic missionary congregations, in a campaign to assimilate them into Canadian society.
The Canadian government has admitted that physical and sexual abuse was rampant in the schools, with students beaten for speaking their native languages.
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https://apnews.com/article/europe-canada-religion-d9cd8969bbe1deec1ab1db47bbf1da9e