Pope arrives in Canada on tour of ‘penance’ for Indigenous abuse
Al JazeeraThe trip centres around an apology on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church for abuse that Indigenous children endured at mostly church-run residential schools. Pope Francis has landed in Canada to kick off a week-long trip that will centre around his apology on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church for the abuse that Indigenous children endured at mostly church-run residential schools. “I asked today the pope to walk with us,” Grand Chief George Arcand Jr of the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations said in an interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. “It was a very humbling experience to talk to your holiness.” RoseAnne Archibald, national chief for the Assembly of First Nations, who also greeted the pope, criticised the “unilateral” organisation of the trip and the “archaic” nature of the church, which has no women in leadership positions. While Canada’s leaders have known about high numbers of children dying at the residential schools since 1907, the issue was thrust to the fore with the discovery of suspected unmarked graves at or near former residential school sites last year.