Between the late 19th century and the 1980s, thousands of Indigenous children were forcibly enrolled in Catholic boarding schools in Canada, where they were cut off from their family, language and culture.
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A step towards recognition. Pope Francis on Friday (April 1st) presented a historic apology for the violence perpetrated for decades in residential schools for indigenous children in Canada, administered by the Church. During an audience at the Vatican before delegations of Métis, Inuit and First Nations, the sovereign pontiff expressed his wish to visit the country at the end of July.
>> Canada: we explain the case of the graves discovered near former boarding schools for indigenous children
“Through your voices, I have carried within me, with great sadness in my heart, the stories of suffering, deprivation, discriminatory treatment and various forms of abuse suffered by many of you, particularly in boarding schools”said the pope.
Long-awaited, these apologies were immediately hailed by the indigenous delegations as “an essential piece of the puzzle” on the way to reconciliation, and as a “milestone” by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
A “cultural genocide”
The discovery of hundreds of anonymous children’s graves in recent months has shaken Canada and many survivors were waiting for a strong gesture from the pope. In September, the Catholic Church of Canada issued a formal apology to Indigenous peoples.
Between the end of the 19th century and the 1980s, some 150,000 Indigenous children were forcibly recruited into more than 130 residential schools across the country, where they were cut off from their families, language and culture. Thousands never came back. The authorities estimate their number between 4,000 and 6,000. In 2015, a national commission of inquiry had qualified this system of “cultural genocide”.
For nearly a year, more than 1,300 graves of anonymous children have been found on the sites of former boarding schools, and multiple searches are continuing across the country.