Vatican City: Pope Francis will visit Canada when the Catholic Church is trying to rebuild bridges with indigenous people after a terrible violent scandal in church-run residential schools, the Vatican said Wednesday.
“Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has invited the Holy Father to undertake apostolic trip to Canada, also in the context of a long pastoral reconciliation process with indigenous peoples,” he said.
“His holiness has indicated his willingness to visit the country at a date to be completed on time.” The Catholic Church in Canada in September apologized “firmly” to the indigenous peoples Canada during a century of abuses in church-run residential schools were established by the government with a policy of assimilation.
The move follows the discovery of more than 1,200 unmarked graves in three locations where indigenous children are forced to attend school.
Pope Francis has expressed “pain” in the scandal but has not so far offered an apology that traditional leaders are still calling.
About 150,000 children Indian, Metis and Inuit enrolled from the late 1800s until the 1990s at 139 residential schools in Canada, spent months or years that are isolated from their families.
Many were abused physically and sexually abused by principals and teachers, and thousands of people are believed to have died from disease, malnutrition or neglect.
Right now, as the search continues for more grave sites, the experience was blamed for the high incidence of poverty, alcoholism and domestic violence, as well as the high suicide rate, on indigenous peoples.