Pope voices ‘pain’ over Canadian deaths, doesn’t apologise

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 boarding schools and pressed religious and political authorities to shed light on “this sad affair.”

But, he didn't offer the apology sought by the Canadian prime minister.

Francis, in remarks to faithful gathered in St Peter's Square, also called for the authorities to foster healing but made no reference to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's insistence, two days earlier, that the Vatican apologise 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.

Ground-penetrating radar was used to confirm the remains of the children at the Kamloops Indian Residential School in Kamloops, British Columbia, last month.

The school was Canada's largest such facility and was operated by the Catholic Church between 1890 and 1969.

“I am following with pain the news that arrives from Canada about the upsetting discovery of the remains of 215 children,” Francis said in his customary Sunday noon remarks to the public.

“I join with the Canadian bishops and the entire Catholic Church in Canada in expressing my closeness to the Canadian people traumatised by the shocking news,” Francis said.

“This sad discovery adds to the awareness of the sorrows and sufferings of the past,” he added.

Trudeau on Friday blasted the church for being “silent” and “not stepping up,” and called for it to formally apologise and to make amends for its prominent role in his nation's former system of church-run Indigenous boarding schools.

He noted that when he met with Francis at the Vatican in 2017, he had asked him to “move forward on apologising” and on making records available.

But, Trudeau said, “we're still seeing resistance from the church, possibly from the church in Canada.”

Chief Rosanne Casimir of the Tk'emlups te Secwepemc First Nation in British Columbia has said her nation wants a public apology from the Catholic Church.

The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, which ran nearly half of Canada's residential schools, has yet to release any records about the Kamloops school, she also said.

Follow The Gleaner on Twitter and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.