to Pope’s apology on residential schools
Pope Francis’ apology Monday for the Catholic Church’s role in Canada’s residential school system and the abuses that took place within it was a full-throated denunciation of a decades-long policy of forced assimilation that aimed to strip Indigenous children of their culture and traumatized generations.
Speaking at the site of a former residential school south of Edmonton, Alberta, the pontiff said he was “deeply sorry” for actions by many in support of “the colonizing mentality of the powers that oppressed the Indigenous Peoples.”
He also expressed sorrow over the schools’ systemic marginalization, denigration and suppression of Indigenous people, languages and culture; the “physical, verbal, psychological and spiritual abuse” children suffered after being taken from their homes at a young age; and the “indelibly” altered family relationships that resulted.
Link to article: First Nations leaders, members react to Pope’s apology on residential schools - Grand Forks Gazette
