Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he urged Pope Francis to formally apologize
for the Catholic Church’s role in mistreatment of Canada’s indigenous
communities, making the request during his meeting with the pope on May
29.
Though a formal papal apology has not yet been issued, Mr. Trudeau’s request comes after a variety of attempts on the part of Catholics in Canada and the Vatican to address the legacy of residential schools, where indigenous children who had been removed from their communities were subjected to heavy-handed assimilation efforts and, in many cases, sexual, physical and emotional abuse. While the schools were financed by the government, most were administered by churches; they were founded in the late 19th century and began to shut down in the 1970s.
https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2017/06/05/why-indigenous-leaders-and-canadian-catholics-still-want-apology-pope
Though a formal papal apology has not yet been issued, Mr. Trudeau’s request comes after a variety of attempts on the part of Catholics in Canada and the Vatican to address the legacy of residential schools, where indigenous children who had been removed from their communities were subjected to heavy-handed assimilation efforts and, in many cases, sexual, physical and emotional abuse. While the schools were financed by the government, most were administered by churches; they were founded in the late 19th century and began to shut down in the 1970s.
https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2017/06/05/why-indigenous-leaders-and-canadian-catholics-still-want-apology-pope