VATICAN CITY
Catholic Register
BY CINDY WOODEN, CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
May 29, 2017
VATICAN CITY – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he asked Pope Francis to help Canadians “move forward on a real reconciliation” with the country’s indigenous people “by issuing an apology” on behalf of the Catholic Church for its role in harming their communities.
The Prime Minister spoke to a handful of reporters in Rome’s Villa Borghese Park May 29 following a 36-minute private meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican.
“He reminded me that his entire life has been dedicated to supporting marginalized people in the world, fighting for them,” the Prime Minister said, adding the Pope said that “he looked forward to working with me and with the Canadian bishops to figure out a path forward together.”
The 2015 report of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which focused on past treatment of the Indigenous communities and concrete steps for a future of greater inclusion, included a recommendation that the Pope come to Canada to apologize on behalf of the Catholic Church for its participation in the residential schools for indigenous children.
Pope Benedict formally apologized in 2009 for the Church’s complicity in residential schools in a meeting with Phil Fontaine, then National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, and other Native leaders, who met with the Pope in the Vatican.
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