Pope Francis ‘deeply sorry’ to Canada’s Indigenous community over church school abuse

Pope Francis has made a historic apology to Indigenous people, asking for forgiveness for members of the Catholic Church who co-operated with Canada’s “devastating” policy of Indigenous residential schools.

“I am deeply sorry,” the Pope said on the grounds of a former school in Maskwacis, near Edmonton, in the first public remarks of his Canadian tour.

The pontiff also expressed “sorrow, indignation and shame” for the actions of many members of the Roman Catholic Church, who ran and operated the majority of residential schools in Canada.

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