Trudeau says Pope's apology to Canadian Indigenous 'a step forward'

By Barry Ellsworth

TRENTON, Canada (AA) - Pope Francis' apology for the Catholic Church's role in Canadian Indian Residential Schools is a "step forward," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday.

But the long-awaited apology does not end the ordeal of Canada's three Indigenous groups - First Nations, Metis and Inuit - as thousands of survivors and families are still reliving the horrors of physical, sexual and psychological suffered at the schools.

"Today's apology is a step forward in acknowledging the truth of our past in order to write historical wrongs, but there's still work to be done," Trudeau said following news of the Pope's apology for the pain and shame inflicted upon Indigenous children.

Francis met representatives from the three groups this week, offering individual apologies in private, then did it to all three in public, Friday.

"For the deplorable behavior of those members of the Catholic Church, I ask forgiveness from God and I would like to tell you from the bottom of my heart that I am very pained," he said, speaking in Italian at the Vatican. "The content of faith cannot be transmitted in a way contrary to faith itself."

Francis said he would honor the demand of the groups and visit Canada later this year to make the apology on native soil.

In all, 139 Indian Residential Schools were set up in Canada beginning in the 1820s and they were attended by about 150,000 Indigenous children. The Catholic Church operated about 60% of the boarding schools, with other religious denominations in charge of the others. The last one closed in the early 1990s.

The plan devised by the Canadian government was to stamp out the native culture in the children, but it destroyed lives and families as children were taken at times by force from their parents.

It is estimated more than 4,300 died and many were buried at or near the schools, sometimes without informing the parents of the deaths. Beginning last summer, unmarked graves were uncovered in various locations using the new technology of ground penetrating radar.

About 1,800 graves have been located as of last year, but the search continues as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which has investigated the historical residential schools, estimated there are about 3,200 of them.