Pope Francis said the treatment of indigenous people in Canada amounted to “genocide,” after a six-day trip in which he apologized to survivors of abuse at Catholic-run schools. The Catholic Church leader on Saturday said that “taking away children, changing culture, changing mentality, changing traditions, changing a race” was tantamount to genocide. “I didn’t say the word [in Canada] because it didn’t occur to me, but I described it [it]. And I asked for forgiveness for this process which was genocide. I condemned it too,” he told reporters on his plane back to Rome. During his trip, the Pope apologized for the “evil” inflicted on indigenous communities in Canada’s residential schools, where children were sent as part of a policy of forced assimilation. He cited the “cultural destruction” and “physical, verbal, psychological and spiritual abuse” of children for decades. From the late 1800s to the 1990s, the Canadian government sent about 150,000 children to 139 church-run residential schools, where they were cut off from their families, language and culture. Many were physically and sexually abused and thousands are believed to have died of disease, malnutrition or neglect. As of May 2021, more than 1,300 unmarked graves have been discovered at the sites of the former schools, sending shockwaves across Canada — which is slowly coming to terms with this long, dark chapter in its history. The pope’s tour of Canada ended Friday in the northern territory of Nunavut, where he met school survivors. “Thank you for having the courage to tell your stories and share your great suffering, which I could not imagine,” Pope Francis told the crowd. Earlier this week, the Pope apologized for the first time in Canada. “I humbly ask for forgiveness for the evil committed by so many Christians against indigenous peoples,” he said on Monday. For decades, indigenous leaders have called on the church to apologize for its role in the residential school system, and the papal apology offered this week was welcomed by some survivors as an important step toward healing.
