dad francisco visited one of the boarding schools in Maskwacis, in the province of Alberta, where he met indigenous populations (Métis and Inuit) apologize for the abuses of the church against them.

“I am hurt. I apologize for the way many members of the Church and religious communities have cooperated, also out of indifference, with these projects of cultural destruction and forced assimilation,” he told a crowd of First Nations Indians.

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According to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, in Canada 139 schools were founded funded by the government and administered largely by the Catholic Church in which Around 150,000 indigenous children were interned who have been separated from their families, forced to abandon their languages, traditions and culture.

“The place where we stand resounds with a cry of pain”, said the 85-year-old Argentine pontiff.

Previously, The Pope arrived in Edmonton today, where he was received with drums and traditional songs by representatives of the indigenous peoples.

After a flight of more than ten hours and because of the time difference, the organizers of the trip preferred that the pope rest the rest of the day at the seminary of this city in the Canadian province of Alberta to better face the rest of the agenda which will begin tomorrow, Monday .

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Due to his knee problems, the pope took the plane down in an elevator and not by stairs and in a wheelchair, he went to one of the airport hangars where the Governor General of Canada, Mary Simón, the first indigenous woman to hold this position, and the first minister, Justin Trudeau.