Canada’s Catholic Bishops Apologize for Abuse of Indigenous Children | Indigenous Rights News

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Canada’s Catholic Bishops have issued an ‘unequivocal’ apology to Canada’s Indigenous peoples for a century of child abuse in church-run residential schools that were part of a government program to ‘assimilate’ them into the Canadian society, but the measure still falls short of the recommendation that the pope also issue an apology.

“We recognize the serious abuses that have been committed by some members of our Catholic community; physical, psychological, emotional, spiritual, cultural and sexual,” according to a statement from the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops released Friday.

“Along with the Catholic entities who have been directly involved in the operation of the schools and who have already offered their own heartfelt apologies, we, the Catholic Bishops of Canada, express our deep remorse and unequivocally apologize,” the statement read.

The experiences of Indigenous children, forcibly separated from their families under a government policy later described as cultural genocide, have come to light after a radar survey uncovered evidence of the remains of more than 1,000 children buried in unidentified areas on the boarding school grounds in recent months.

In June, Pope Francis expressed pain over the discovery of the remains of 215 children at a church-run boarding school, but did not apologize.

The system, which operated between 1831 and 1996, removed about 150,000 Aboriginal children from their families and brought them to Christian boarding schools run on behalf of the federal government.

They were forced to convert to Christianity and were not allowed to speak their native language.

Many were beaten and verbally abused, and up to 6,000 people are believed to have died.

Catholic boarding schools focused on manual skills, teaching boys carpentry and other trades, while girls were prepared for domestic work. [File: Jennifer Gauthier/Reuters]

A Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), set up to investigate the effects of the residential school system, reported in 2015 that children were being malnourished, beaten and abused under a system it called of “cultural genocide”.

A papal apology was one of the TRC’s 94 recommendations, but the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops said in 2018 that the pope felt he could not personally apologize for residential schools.

According to the TRC, indigenous children had long hair, which often held spiritual significance to them, cut when they arrived, and they were forbidden to speak their native language. Students were given European names and, often, numbers and uniforms.

Schools focused on manual skills, teaching boys carpentry and other trades, while girls were prepared for domestic service.

While schools were presented as the only way for Aboriginal children to get a formal education, students also worked, cleaning up manure or feeding animals.

The Canadian government apologized to Parliament in 2008 and admitted that physical and sexual abuse in schools was endemic.

Indigenous children had their long hair cut upon arrival and not allowed to speak their native language [File: Jennifer Gauthier/Reuters]

Many students remember being beaten for speaking their mother tongue. They have also lost contact with their parents and their customs.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the Catholic Church must take responsibility for its role in running many schools and provide records to help identify remains.

Earlier, Trudeau had also formally asked the Vatican for an apology from the pope.

Indigenous leaders have said the legacy of abuse and isolation is behind the epidemic rates of alcohol and drug abuse on reservations.

Since the discovery of unmarked graves at the sites of former residential schools, there have been several fires in churches across Canada. There has also been vandalism targeting churches and statues in cities.

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