Vulpix
05-08-2009, 08:04 PM
Pope apologizes to Canada's indigenous
(http://www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=93031§ionid=351020701)
Pope Benedict XVI has apologized to Canada's indigenous people for the "deplorable conduct" of the Roman Catholic Church who abused native Indian children.
"Given the sufferings that some indigenous children experienced in the Canadian Residential School system, the Holy Father expressed his sorrow at the anguish caused by the deplorable conduct of some members of the Church and he offered his sympathy and prayerful solidarity," the Vatican said on Wednesday.
The statement came after James Weisgerber, the Archbishop of Winnipeg, Manitoba met with Phil Fontaine, national chief of Canada's Assembly of First Nations.
Beginning in 1874 and continuing well into the 1970s, 150,000 Indian, Inuit and Metis children in Canada were forcibly enrolled in 132 boarding schools run by churches on behalf of the federal government in an effort to integrate them into society, (assimilation policy).
Canada formally apologized last year for the assimilation policy that forced 150,000 native Indians into boarding schools far from home where their languages and traditions were banned, and where many said they were sexually and physically abused.
During the colonial period, the 650 aboriginal nations in Canada were driven to reservations, usually in isolated, unproductive regions of the country.
Native populations declined drastically until the 1940's, their languages were lost and their traditional ceremonies were outlawed.
(http://www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=93031§ionid=351020701)
Pope Benedict XVI has apologized to Canada's indigenous people for the "deplorable conduct" of the Roman Catholic Church who abused native Indian children.
"Given the sufferings that some indigenous children experienced in the Canadian Residential School system, the Holy Father expressed his sorrow at the anguish caused by the deplorable conduct of some members of the Church and he offered his sympathy and prayerful solidarity," the Vatican said on Wednesday.
The statement came after James Weisgerber, the Archbishop of Winnipeg, Manitoba met with Phil Fontaine, national chief of Canada's Assembly of First Nations.
Beginning in 1874 and continuing well into the 1970s, 150,000 Indian, Inuit and Metis children in Canada were forcibly enrolled in 132 boarding schools run by churches on behalf of the federal government in an effort to integrate them into society, (assimilation policy).
Canada formally apologized last year for the assimilation policy that forced 150,000 native Indians into boarding schools far from home where their languages and traditions were banned, and where many said they were sexually and physically abused.
During the colonial period, the 650 aboriginal nations in Canada were driven to reservations, usually in isolated, unproductive regions of the country.
Native populations declined drastically until the 1940's, their languages were lost and their traditional ceremonies were outlawed.