CANADA
APTN
Julien Gignac
APTN National News
Notes released by the Vatican recounting a 10-minute meeting between Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Pope Francis Thursday failed to mention the topic of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Harper said he reminded the Pope of the letter sent by his Aboriginal Affairs minister regarding the Truth and Reconciliation commission.
The letter, sent last week, notifies the Holy See of the commission.
But in meeting notes released by officials at the Vatican, there is no mention of Harper raising the issue of the TRC.
The TRC released 94 recommendations June 2, one of which asks for an official apology to be made by the Pope in Canada for abuses carried out by the Roman Catholic Church in its residential school system.
The release made by Harper’s office does not specify which recommendation was presented or whether the prime minister personally invited Pope Francis to Canada to apologize.
Many hoped Harper would use the meeting with the Pope to secure an apology for what the TRC calls the “the Roman Catholic Church’s role in the spiritual, cultural, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse of First Nations, Inuit, and Metis children in Catholic-run residential schools.”
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