Pope Francis Issues Apology to Indigenous Groups in Canada for ‘Evil’ Catholic School Abuses; Tribal Members React

Pope Francis is the first pontiff hailing from the Americas. The Argentinian is now embarking on his week-long "penitential pilgrimage," and his first stop is Canada, where he made an effort to heal the harm inflicted at church-run residential schools and other historical transgressions by the Catholic Church.

The pope flew to Canada on Sunday to apologize for the abuses that the country's state-funded residential Christian schools inflicted upon many indigenous people as they tried to forcefully assimilated them from the 1800s to the 1970s.

Many Native children from various tribes were forced to attend these Christian schools during the period. According to the Associated Press, abuse was rampant in these Christian institutions.

Pope Francis met with members of Canada's First Nations, Inuit, and Metis communities in Rome back in April, when he also made a similar apology. However, his coming to Canada was much more appreciated and meaningful, according to Fernie Marty, a member of the Papaschase nation, who are part of Alberta, Canada's Cree people.

Marty survived the forced assimilation and is currently an elder at Sacred Heart Church of the First Peoples in Edmonton, Alberta. However, another survivor of these schools, George Pipestem, 79, a member of the Montana First Nation, questioned the relevance of this papal apology.

He said the people who abused him are all gone, and the apology does not matter to him.

Pope Francis Speaks at Former Ermineskin Indian Residential School in Canada

In a speech to school survivors and Indigenous community members gathered at a former residential school south of Edmonton on Monday, Pope Francis said, "I am deeply sorry."

He called the school policy a "disastrous error," adding that it was incompatible with the Gospel. He also acknowledged that further investigation and healing are needed.

Pope Francis apologized again, saying he was humbly begging for forgiveness for the atrocities committed by Christians against the Indigenous people. His speech received applause from the crowd.

The pope traveled to the lands of four Cree nations in the first event of his weeklong pilgrimage. He prayed at a cemetery before delivering his apology at powwow ceremonial grounds nearby.

Four chiefs escorted him in a wheelchair to the Ermineskin Indian Residential School before presenting him with a feathered headdress after the speech. They also made the pope an "honorary leader of the community."

From the 1800s to the 1970s, Canada tried assimilating many indigenous people through these schools, and the Catholic Church cooperated. The Associated Press reported that over 150,000 native children in Canada were forced to attend these schools in an effort to isolate them from their native culture.

Pope Francis called the practice "deplorable," and Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission said it amounted to a "cultural genocide."

Tribal Leaders and Members in Canada React to Pope Francis's Apology

Following Pope Francis' speech, several members of the various tribes and tribal leaders spoke and gave their reactions, according to The Associated Press.

Phil Fontaine, a residential school abuse survivor and former chief of the Assembly of First Nations, told AP that it was an achievement for the indigenous community to convince the Pope to come to a First Nation community and humble himself before survivors.

In a news conference, Chief Desmond Bull of Louis Bull Tribe said people should not tell them to get over what happened in the past, as they cannot forget the intergenerational trauma that impacted their youth.

Chief Tony Alexis of the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation said the apology was a "validation that this really happened." Evelyn Korkmaz, a school survivor, noted that she waited 50 years for the apology.

Sadly, she also pointed out that many First Nations community members did not live long enough to see it happen. The Canadian government has admitted that physical and sexual abuse ran rampant in these schools.

Students were often beaten up for merely speaking their native language as the Canadian government tried forcing them to assimilate. It was made worse as hundreds of potential unmarked graves were discovered on the grounds of former residential school sites across Canada.

These revelations prompted Pope Francis to apologize on Canadian soil. Of the 139 residential schools in Canada, Catholic religious orders ran 66 of them.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Canada Indigenous Leaders Moved by Pope Apology - From Associated Press