(Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called a papal apology to Indigenous Canadians at the Vatican an important step in acknowledging the historic abuse inflicted by both the Roman Catholic Church and the federal government's assimilationist residential schools.
“We cannot separate the legacy of the residential school system from the institutions that created, maintained, and operated it,” Trudeau said in a statement Friday.
Earlier in Rome, Pope Francis told a visiting delegation that he felt “sorrow and shame” for the abuse Indigenous Canadians suffered at the hands of priests for more than a century. He also promised to visit Canada to deliver an apology in person to survivors.
Beginning in the 1880s, Canada's residential school system forcibly removed Indigenous children from their families to educate them in church-run institutions. A government-backed Truth and Reconciliation Commission found in 2015 that the program constituted “cultural genocide.”
Over the past year, hundreds of unmarked graves have been discovered at former residential schools across Canada. The last institution didn't close until the 1990s. Trudeau pledged his government would provide ongoing support to Indigenous Canadians.
“Today's apology will resurface strong emotions of hurt and trauma for many,” Trudeau said. “The government will continue to support Indigenous communities across the country with the funding and resources they need to continue to search for unmarked burial sites, uncover the truth of what happened at residential schools, and continue on their healing journey.”
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