Pope apologizes for ‘deplorable evil’ of Canadian indigenous schools – Reuters
MASKWACIS, Alberta, July 25 (Reuters) – Pope Francis apologized on Monday to Canada’s native people on their land for the Church’s role in schools where indigenous children were abused, calling their forced cultural assimilation a “deplorable evil” and “disastrous error.”
Speaking near the site of two former schools in Maskwacis, Alberta, Francis apologized for Christian support of the “colonizing mentality” of the times and called for a “serious” investigation of the schools to help survivors and descendants heal.
“With shame and unambiguously, I humbly beg forgiveness for the evil committed by so many Christians against the indigenous peoples,” said Francis, who arrived and left in a wheelchair due to a fractured knee.
