Edmonton’s Catholic archbishop says he’s talking to Pope Francis about the need for the church to consider formally apologizing for its role in Canada’s legacy of residential schools.
Over a breakfast with journalists on Monday, Archbishop Richard Smith said he has advised the pope to consider Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s request for the Vatican to issue a formal apology to Canada’s Indigenous peoples.
“He is a man with a very serious pastoral faith, so we trust he will do what is right and what is good,” Smith said of Pope Francis.
The prime minister requested the apology Monday during an official meeting with the pontiff. Trudeau is seeking the apology as a way for the Catholic church to acknowledge the role it played in Canada’s residential schools.
The schools enlisted First Nations children into Catholic boarding schools with terrible living conditions. Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission documented the deaths of more than 6,000 residential school students as a result of their school experience.
The formal apology is one of the commission’s 94 recommendations towards repairing the relationship between the government of Canada and Indigenous peoples.
Smith said any apology made by the pope would be best in person. But he said Pope Francis doesn’t plan to visit Canada this year.