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Pope again asks for forgiveness as tour ends in Canada's north

30 July 2022 09:50 (UTC +04:00)

-Pope Francis again asked for forgiveness after meeting on Friday with residential school survivors in the Arctic territory of Nunavut, the last stop in his six-day visit to Canada to apologize to indigenous people for abuse in government schools run by the Roman Catholic Church, APA reports citing Reuters.

After a private meeting in a small elementary school, Francis said hearing survivors' stories had "only renewed in me the indignation and shame that I have felt for months" at the harm done to them. His plane departed Canada for Rome on Friday evening.

Earlier on Friday, the pontiff told indigenous leaders in Quebec City that he was pained that Catholics had supported "oppressive and unjust policies" against them.

Francis capped his week-long tour in Iqaluit, Nunavut's capital, a city of 7,700 that sits among rocky hills overlooking Frobisher Bay. Iqaluit, in the Arctic territory created in 1999 for the Inuit people, is reachable only by plane or ship.

"Today too, in this place, I want to tell you how very sorry I am and to ask for forgiveness for the evil perpetrated by not a few Catholics who contributed to the policies of cultural assimilation and enfranchisement in those schools," said Francis, atop a stage designed to look like a qammaq, an Inuit summer home.

A small crowd watched the pontiff's speech, which was preceded by performances of Inuit traditional throat singing and drum dancing.