Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Death toll from latest Israeli strikes on Gaza rises to 30
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Five killed in the Israeli bombing of a civilian vehicle on Al-Qassam Street in Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip
Hamas confirms that it has no connection to the shooting incident in Rafah and affirms its commitment to the ceasefire agreement
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Two civilians were killed and four others, including a child and an infant, were injured in an Israeli bombing of a house belonging to the Al-Banna family in the al-Sabra neighborhood, south of Gaza City
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: An Israeli airstrike targets the vicinity of Al-Shifa Medical Complex, west of Gaza City
Al-Qassam: We will postpone the handover of the body of the Israeli captive we found, which was scheduled for today, due to the occupation's violations
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Gaza: Israeli occupation aircraft launch airstrikes on the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip
Netanyahu's office: At the end of the security consultations, the prime minister instructed the military to launch massive military strikes on the Gaza Strip immediately
President Aoun: We urge the activation of the monitoring committee, the cessation of hostilities, ongoing Israeli violations, attacks
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to US Envoy Morgan Ortagus: Southerners must be enabled to return to their homes and rebuild

Pope Francis: Catholic-church run schools committed genocide

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 30 Jul 2022 13:40
4 Min Read

The Pope admits to reporters on his way back to Rome that the treatment of indigenous peoples of Canada by the Catholic church was an act of genocide.

  • x
  • The Pope apologized to survivors of residential schools and all those that suffered the abuse of the Catholic Church
    The Pope apologized to survivors of residential schools and all those that suffered the abuse of the Catholic Church (Reuters)

After a six-day 'penitential pilgrimage' trip to Canada, Pope Francis on Saturday told a reporter on his plane heading back to Rome that the treatment of First Nations in Canada amounted to genocide.

During the trip, the Pope apologized to survivors of residential schools and all those who suffered the abuse of the Catholic Church. The pontiff said that he "didn't say the word (in Canada) because it didn't come to my mind, but I did describe the genocide. And I asked for forgiveness for this process which was genocide. I condemned it too."

"Taking away children, changing the culture, changing the mentality, changing the traditions, changing a race, let's put it that way, a whole culture. Yes, genocide is (a) technical word... But I have described what is, indeed, a genocide," the pontiff added.

From the late 1800s to the 1990s, approximately 150,000 First Nations, Metis, and Inuit children were enrolled in 139 residential schools across Canada as part of a government policy of forced assimilation. The last residential school was closed in 1996, which is merely 25 years ago.

Individuals forced into residential schools were snatched away from their families, language, and culture for months or years, and many were physically and sexually abused by headmasters and teachers.

They were not allowed to speak their native tongue or dress the native way. Their hair, an important element for Canadian Indigenous peoples, was cut because the clergy was aware of that significance. Residential schools were a space for forced assimilation and a tool of ethnic cleansing, all of which the Pope summarized by admitting that the treatment of indigenous people in residential schools was, in fact, an act of genocide. 

Related News

Trump imposes 10% tariff on Canada after controversial Ontario Ad

Trump terminates Canada trade talks over alleged fake Reagan ad

Earlier on his trip and during a papal Mass in Quebec, a large banner protesting the so-called "doctrine of discovery" was unfurled near the front row facing the congregation. The majority of those in the church were indigenous.

It is worth noting that the Doctrine of Discovery is a colonial-era doctrine that claims white European nations "discovered" North America during the age of exploration.

In Alberta, the Pope failed to call what happened a genocide or ethnic cleansing, rather apologizing in front of a crowd of indigenous peoples for the "evil committed by so many Christians against the Indigenous peoples" of Canada, and regretted the Church's involvement in "cultural destruction," as he put it.

On July 26, President Fawn Sharp of the National Congress of American Indians wrote to Pope Francis, requesting the Catholic Church to work with Native American tribes to get all archives about federal Indian boarding schools in the United States.

"I invite His Holiness and the Catholic Church to work with the National Congress of American Indians to open all records related to Federal Indian boarding schools so that someday soon American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian peoples may host an apostolic - and maybe even apologetic - journey to our tribal lands here in the United States," Sharp said in the letter on Monday.

Sharp stated that the Pope's visit to Canada has motivated him to deliver an apology on behalf of the Catholic Church for its role in the cultural genocide perpetrated by Canada's residential school system.

Read more: Native Americans testify to US boarding school sexual, physical abuses 

  • Canada
  • Pope Francis
  • Canadian Residential Schools

Most Read

'Israel’s Digital Iron Dome: Weaponizing the web against Palestine

'Israel’s Digital Iron Dome: Weaponizing the web against Palestine

  • Technology
  • 24 Oct 2025
Arab League chief exposes secret US deal shielding 'Israel’s' nukes

Arab League chief exposes secret US deal shielding 'Israel’s' nukes

  • Politics
  • 27 Oct 2025
Abu Hamza, the spokesperson for the Al-Quds Brigades, during a speech televised on October 22, 2025 (Al-Quds Brigades Military Media)

Al-Quds Brigades' Abu Hamza mourns leaders, vows continued resistance

  • Politics
  • 22 Oct 2025
US missionary kidnapped in Niger capital, suspected taken toward Mali

US missionary kidnapped in Niger capital, suspected taken toward Mali

  • Africa
  • 23 Oct 2025

Coverage

All
War on Gaza

Read Next

All
Members of the al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, and Egyptian workers search for the bodies of hostages in a tunnel discovered during searches in Hamad City, Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025 (AP)
Politics

'Israel' obstructing Gaza body recovery, creating false claims: Hamas

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawwaf Salam talks to US Deputy Special Envoy to the Middle East Morgan Ortagus at the Grand Serail in Beirut, Lebanon, October 28, 2025 (NNA)
Politics

Salam conveys to Ortagus goals behind any possible negotiations

Writers boycott NYT, demand justice as Gaza media ban faces court
Politics

300+ writers boycott NYT Opinion, cite persistent anti-Palestine bias

Settlers attack West Bank olive harvesters, Injure 3 Palestinians
Politics

Settlers attack West Bank olive harvesters, injure 3 Palestinians

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS