Canadian Catholic Church to release records of 13 residential schools: Indigenous leader

By Seyit Aydogan

TORONTO (AA) - As the crisis in Canada over residential church schools continues, one of the most important wishes of the indigenous people -- the disclosure of the schools’ records -- was finally answered Sunday.

Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) Chief Bobby Cameron said the records of at least 13 schools will be released by the Catholic Church.

“It’s welcoming news and it’s a start for other churches right across Canada to do the same -- release those records to the survivors and descendants,” Cameron told CTV News.

Following the discovery of what are believed to be the remains of 215 students buried on the site of a former residential school in the city of Kamloops in the province of British Columbia, the FSIN called on Pope Francis to issue an apology for the role the Catholic Church played in residential schools. The FSIN also called on the Roman Catholic Church to release the records of the residential schools.

“They are listening,” Cameron said. “The amount of pressure we’ve been putting on them, it’s working, and we are going to continue to be vocal for our survivors.”