Pope Francis apologized for the Catholic Church’s treatment of indigenous children in Canada.
Francis said the Canadian government’s record of placing indigenous children in schools where they were abused was “deplorable,” a history that reemerged after several hundred graves were discovered behind one of the schools.
“For the deplorable conduct of those members of the Catholic Church, I ask forgiveness of the Lord,” Francis said in a meeting with members of several Canadian indigenous tribes on Friday, the Associated Press reported. “And I want to tell you from my heart that I am greatly pained. And I unite myself with the Canadian bishops in apologizing.”
Francis met with members of the Metis, Inuit, and First Nation communities over the last week after they came seeking a papal apology. The pope spoke with these tribes for several hours and said he intends to visit Canada in late July, during the Feast of St. Anne.
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Nearly 150,000 indigenous children were taken away from their families between 1894 and 1947 to be placed into religious boarding schools in an attempt to convert them to Christianity, historians claim. Catholic missionaries ran an estimated three-quarters of the schools involved in the “cultural genocide,” which resulted in several reports of sexual and physical abuse, according to Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Last June, more than 600 bodies were found behind a former Catholic boarding school, leading to an immediate uproar in Canada.
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Several Catholic churches were burned down in the aftermath of the graves’ discovery, although the arsonists were not identified or charged.
