Pope Francis visits Canada to apologise

Pope visits Canada to apologise - 15th August 2022

The Pope has made a special visit to Canada, to apologise for the former Catholic schools there.

The country was home to around 130 residential schools. They were common throughout the 20th century and the last school was only closed in 1996. The centres were set up by the Canadian government but were mostly run by the Catholic church. They were designed for children from indigenous groups, the original people in North America. More than 150,000 Métis, Inuit and First Nations boys and girls were sent away to be schooled there.

The purpose of the residential schools was to replace the indigenous peoples’ cultures with white culture. A report in 2015 showed that the children were typically badly treated. They were forbidden from communicating in their own languages and were often hurt - physically or mentally - by staff. The children frequently went hungry, with the result that hundreds fell ill and died over the period.

In May 2021, several graves of dead children were found on the site of a school in British Columbia. The graves had no names but they belonged to First Nations’ children. After that, many more were discovered across Canada. Over 1,000 graves have been found up until now.

Recently, Pope Francis has spoken of his deep shame and regret for the residential centres. He’s hopeful that his Canada trip will help to build bridges between the Catholic church and indigenous peoples.

Finally saying sorry for the church’s part in these terrible events could be the first stage in a difficult journey.