Pope Francis says the abuses indigenous peoples faced while forced to attend residential schools amounted to genocide.
The pontiff made the comment to reporters Friday on his flight from Iqaluit back to Rome after his six-day tour of Canada.
Francis apologized several times throughout the week for the role the Roman Catholic Church played in the institutions. He apologized for the abuses committed by some members of the church, as well as for cultural destruction and forced assimilation.
Read more: Pope Francis ends Canadian reconciliation visit by apologizing in Inuktitut: ‘Mamianaq’
0:40 Pope Francis ends Canadian reconciliation visit by apologizing in Inuktituk: ‘Mamianaq’ Pope Francis ends Canadian reconciliation visit by apologizing in Inuktituk: ‘Mamianaq’
Some indigenous people said they were disappointed that during his visit the Pope did not name the crimes and abuses faced by students and survivors. They also criticized him for not using the term genocide.
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When asked if he would use the word genocide and accept church members participating in genocide, Francis said yes.
The Pope said he did not plan to use the word genocide during his trip, calling it a technical term.
“I apologized for what was done, which was genocide, and I did condemn it,” he said in Spanish through a translator.
Francis said that instead of using the word genocide he described attempts to destroy indigenous peoples through assimilation and colonization.
“To take out children, to change the culture, their mentality, their traditions, to change a race, an entire culture… yes, I use the word genocide.”
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1:49 Indigenous residential center survivors reflect on Pope Francis’ historic visit Indigenous residential center survivors reflect on Pope Francis’ historic visit
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission referred to residential schools as a form of cultural genocide when it released its final report in 2015. But several indigenous groups have since amended that to say it was genocide.
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Manitoba NDP Member of Parliament Leah Gazan introduced a motion in the House of Commons last year calling on the federal government to recognize what happened at the residential schools as genocide, but it did not get unanimous consent.
The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls concluded in its final report that violence against women and girls is a form of genocide. The effects of residential schools were the subject of numerous testimonies from families and survivors.
Neglect and physical and sexual abuse were rampant in the schools, and the Catholic Church ran 60% of the institutions.
During his visit to Canada, Francis expressed grief, outrage and shame.
“In the face of this deplorable evil, the church kneels before God and implores his forgiveness for the evil committed by so many Christians against indigenous peoples,” he told a group of residential center survivors and their families gathered in Maskwacis, Alta. .
Throughout his stops in Alberta, Quebec and Nunavut, the Pope received messages urging him to rescind the Doctrine of Discovery, papal bulls or official statements that were made to justify the colonization of the Americas. The doctrine was related to thinking that colonized lands were empty, when in fact they were home to indigenous peoples.
Some indigenous academics say that the doctrine is the basis of all the policies that have emerged since.
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Indigenous leaders have for decades called for it to be revoked and for the messages to be expanded before and during the Pope’s visit.
Many said they were disappointed it was not part of the Pope’s apology.
He was asked on the plane Friday if he thought it was a missed opportunity to offer concrete action toward reconciliation.
“Colonization is bad. It is unfair and is still used today. Maybe with silk and gloves, but it’s used anyway,” he said.
“Let’s be aware that colonization is not over. The same colonization also exists today.”
Vatican officials have said a statement on the matter is forthcoming.
The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, which helped organize the papal trip, said in a statement that the bishops plan to work with the Vatican to address it.
© 2022 The Canadian Press