MASKWACIS, Canada (AFP) — Some seemed far away, others wept or applauded: a great wave of emotion swept through the crowd on Monday in western Canada’s Maskwacis when the pope himself begged forgiveness for the “evil” done to Indigenous people. One way or another, they had all been affected by the decades of abuse against children in schools run by the Catholic Church, part of a system seeking to stamp out the Indigenous identity […]
Tag: indigenous schools
Pope apologizes for ‘evil’ of decades of abuse in Catholic-run residential schools in Canada
by Clement Melki and Amel Semmache Agence France Presse Pope Francis on Monday apologized for the “evil” inflicted on the Indigenous peoples of Canada on the first day of a visit focused on addressing decades of abuse at Catholic-run residential schools. The plea for forgiveness from the leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics was met with applause by a crowd of First Nations, Metis and Inuit people in Maskwacis, in western Alberta province […]
Canadian PM visits graves of indigenous school previously ran by Catholic church
Indigenous leaders still await apology from Pope; visit to Vatican in December set Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a visit Monday, October 18, to the indigenous community of Kamloops where the remains of 215 children were found in May at a former residential school ran by the Catholic Church, apologizing for not coming sooner. The visit followed strong criticisms directed at Trudeau for ignoring an earlier invitation to the community on the first […]
Trudeau to visit community where indigenous children’s graves were found
MONTREAL, Canada (AFP) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is to visit the indigenous community of Kamloops where the remains of 215 children were found in May at a former residential school. It will be the prime minister’s first on-site visit to the British Columbia community, in the west of the country, since the unmarked graves were uncovered, sparking fury across the country. A statement from the Kamloops community said Trudeau would visit on October […]
Trudeau denounces vandalism, arson of Catholic churches, as history of abuse in residential schools unearthed
OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday denounced a wave of vandalism across Canada that saw churches damaged and statues of monarchs splashed with red paint and torn down. These acts followed the recent discoveries of more than 1,000 unmarked graves at former indigenous boarding schools that has provoked anger and grief in indigenous communities, and beyond, along with a reckoning of the country’s colonial history. “It is unacceptable and wrong […]





